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THE CROSS AND THE DRAGON 



OR 



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LIGHT IN THE BROAD EAST 



BY ^^^^ 

REV. E'C. HENRY 

TEN YEARS A MISSIONARY IN CANTON 



WITB AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
By JOSEPH COOK 




NEW YORK 

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND COMPANY 

900 Broadway, cor. Twentieth Street 






Copyright, 1885, 
Anson D. F. Randolph and Company. 



•"niljtniilH 5«»»' 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



TO 

MY FATHER AND MOTHER, 

TO WHOSE SELF-DENYING LOVE I AM INDEBTED FOR EARLY TRAINING 
AND PREPARATION FOR MY LIFE's WORK, 

S^JtS UoIUtttt 
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The Empire of China presents a country so vast and 
diversified, a people so numerous and peculiar; con- 
stant intercourse with people from other lands is opening 
up its inland domain so extensively ; while the studies 
and researches of scholars and specialists are unfolding 
such masses of information concerning the history, cus- 
toms, and resources of the land, — that it is impossible, 
within the compass of a single volume, to take even a 
cursory glance at the whole ; the time has come when 
it must be studied in sections. In pursuance of this plan, 
the southern portion of the Empire, in one particular 
feature of progress, is treated of in the present volume. 

Canton — or Kwong-Tung, as it is pronounced by the 
natives — means literally the Broad East; and Kwong-Si 
the Broad West. 

The title of the book indicates the nature of its con- 
tents. The Dragon is the national emblem of China ; it 
plays an important part in political, literary, and social 
life. The throne of China is the Dragon Throne ; the 
national ensign is the yellow flag with a blue Dragon ; 
the scholar leaps the " Dragon Gate" when he passes a 
successful examination. The Dragon is seen in the 
earth and in the sky. In the earth he holds control of 



viii Preface, 

the lucky and unlucky influences ; and it becomes a 
matter of great importance to find the " Dragon's pulse," 
which indicates the flow of good influences. Intervvoven 
with so many of their beliefs and customs, the Dragon 
becomes the symbol of all that is peculiarly Chinese, 
as the Cross is the symbol of all that is Christian. 

From the many inquiries addressed to me, personally 
and by letter, before and since my return from Canton, 
I have become convinced of the desire on the part of 
many for some definite information about the work of 
missions in the south of China. My knowledge of the 
condition and prospects of the cause of missions in that 
part of the world also convinces me that it is important 
for the interests of all concerned that the Church es- 
pecially should know as fully as possible what is being 
done there. To meet this demand for information, and 
to serve the cause with which I am identified, this 
volume has been prepared. My life in Canton has 
given me the fullest opportunities for observing every 
phase of mission work ; and however imperfect the pre- 
sentation may be, the great facts of the extent, impor- 
tance, and progress of the enterprise are not at fault. 
My aim has been to present the work as a whole, making 
no distinction between the various churches and societies 
engaged; but being connected with the Presbyterian 
Church, and being consequently more familiar with the 
details and incidents of its work, greater prominence 
may appear to be given to the operations of that par- 
ticular mission. This arises, however, from no desire 
to exalt one above another, or to claim for one the glory 
of all. I endeavored to secure as much information as 
possible in the way of statistics, historical data, signifi- 



Preface. ix 

cant facts and incidents from all the missions before 
leaving China, and have conscientiously sought to pre- 
sent the work impartially as the great enterprise in which 
all are unitedly engaged. 

I have consulted and frequently quote the works of 
Drs. Williams, Legge, Edkins, Eitel, and Faber on points 
connected with the Chinese systems of belief. In giving 
the names of places and persons, the Cantonese pro- 
nunciation has usually been followed, as being more 
intelligible to those immediately concerned. 

B. C. H. 

Princeton, N. J., Nov. i, 1884. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction xxv 

CHAPTER I. 

THE BROAD EAST AND ITS POPULATION. 

The city of Canton. — The whole country open ; its extent. — 
The great Delta. — Rice district. — Silk district. — Home 
of the emigrants to America. — West River. — Kwong-si. — 
Yunnan. — North River. — East River. — Early occupation 
of Canton ; its great importance I 

CHAPTER n. 

FACILITIES FOR REACHING THE PEOPLE 

Travel by boats. — Kinds of boats used. — Advantages of boat 
travel ; gives greater access to the people ; is not expen- 
sive; a great convenience; a saving of strength; the safest 
plan. — Reception by the people. — Village life. — Market 
towns. — Cities and marts of trade. — Amusing episodes . i6 

CHAPTER HI. 

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 

Love of antiquity. — Ultra-conservatism. — Anti-foreign feel- 
ings* — " Foreign devils." — Business capacity of the 
Cantonese. — Compradores. — Emigration. — Industry of 
the people ; their frugality ; powers of endurance. — No 
caste in China. — Clans. — Village with ten thousand of one 
name. — Feudal system. — The man who killed his mother. 
— Family life. — Younger must serve the elder. — Betrothal 



xii Co7itents. 



PACE 

and marriage. — Separation of the sexes. — Occupation 
of ladies. — Eating watermelon-seeds. — Foot-binding. — 
Domestic slavery. — Chinese houses. — House infested by 
evil spirits. — Wine-drinking. — Tea-drinking. — " Do you 
think I am an ox?" — Opium-smoking a curse. — Use of 
tobacco. — Gambling. — Vile conversation. — Boat people . 3 1 

CHAPTER IV. 
CONFUCIUS AND CONFUCIANISM. 

A sketch of Confucius' life. — Lack of appreciation in his 
time. — Dedicates his work to Heaven. — His method of 
teaching. — His system of ethics. — The five relations and 
the five virtues. — The way of the superior man. — Standard 
works of Confucianism. — The Four Books. — Mencius, the 
second great sage. — The Five Classics. — Modern Confu- 
cianism. — Defects of the system. — A reformer needed. — 
The worship connected with it. — State religion. — Non- 
religious character of the literati 62 

CHAPTER V. 

BUDDHISM IN CHINA. 

Its origin. — Introduction into China. — Four principles. — 
Buddhistic Trinity. — Ten commandments. — Six paths of 
metempsychosis. — Its eclecticism. — Resemblances in the 
life of Buddha to the life of Christ. — The Western Para- 
dise. — Goddess of Mercy. — Its influence decaying. — No 
enthusiasm. — Temples in Canton. — A luxurious abbot. — 
No charities. — Its introduction compared with that of 
Christianity 80 

CHAPTER VI. 

TAOISM. 

Founded by Lo-tsz. — His relations to Confucius. — The "Canon 
of Reason and Virtue." — Extracts. — Taoism of the Han 



Contents. xiii 



PAGE 



period. — Early spread in Canton. — Deities worshipped. 

— Present head of the Taoist sect. — It fosters the grossest 
superstitions. — The god of war. — The gods of the earth. 

— The god of wealth. — Hong-Kung. — Worship in the 
City Temple of Canton. — Little shrine made famous. — 
Selfish worship loo 



CHAPTER VII. 

ANCESTRAL WORSHIP AND GEOMANCY. 

Worship of ancestors the real religion of the Chinese ; its 
theory ; its form ; its effects. — Associated with other sys- 
tems. — Special services for the dead. — Large sums of 
money expended. — Inseparably connected with geomancy. 
— Fung-Shui. — The geomancer's compass. — Wind and 
water doctors. — The Dragon. — Deadly vapor. — Secret 
arrow. — Choosing lucky sites for graves ; for ancestral 
temples ; for houses ; for villages. — Geomancy the foe to 
all progress. — Christian education the antidote . . . .123 



CHAPTER VIIL 
FEASTS, PASTIMES, AND FOLK-LORE. 

New Year's festivities. — Welcoming the Spring. — Festival of 
the Tombs. — Dragon-boat Festival. — All Souls. — Feast 
of the Seven Sisters. — Moon-feast. — Lantern displays. 
— Ta-tsiu to the god of fire. — Flying kites. — Ascending 
the Heights. — Midwinter feast. — Marriage feasts. — 
Guilds and their celebrations. — Chinese theatres. — Chi- 
nese music. — Beggars. — Folk-lore. — Unlucky words. — 
Signs and portents. — Charms and amulets. — The tabooed 
bell. — Cures for frightened children. — Evil spirits. — 
Divination. — Five generations in one house. — Memorial 
gateway. — Canton a fortunate place to live in . . . .152 



xiv Co7itents. 



CHAPTER IX. 

A SKETCH OF CANTON MISSIONS IN THE PAST. 

PAGB 

Three periods. — Morrison and his work. — Leung-A-fah. — 
Dr. Bridgeman. — Dr. Williams. — Missions in the settle- 
ments to the south. — Restrictions in Canton and Macao. 

— Preparatory work done. — Liberality of merchants. — 
Occupation of Hong-Kong. — Treaty of Nanking. — The 
second war and treaties of Tientsin. — Various societies 
in Canton. — Hostility of the Cantonese. — Question of 
residence. — Dr. Ball. — Schools and dispensaries. — Let- 
ter of Dr. Hobson. — The Tai-ping rebellion. — Sketch 
of Hung-Sau-tsiin ; his beliefs and methods. — Religious 
character of the movement. — Scheme to possess the Em- 
pire. — The path of conquest. — Disastrous ending. — Dis- 
appointed hopes. — Doubts as to the wisdom of England's 
course. — Period of uncertainty. — Favorable sites secured. 

— Period of expansion. — Bi-monthly conference. — The 
term to use for "God." — Progress in different missions. — 
The " gods and genii " powder plot. — Local disturbances. 

— Advance in the last decade. — Names of those long in 
the work. — The roll of the past. — Roberts. — Hobson. — 
Krolzyck. — Preston. — The mission cemetery 173 

CHAPTER X. 

PRESENT STATUS OF MISSION WORK. 

The societies represented. — Number of missionaries. — Ad- 
vantages of a large community. — Native assistants ; their 
efficiency. — Sabbath services in Canton. — Number of 
Christians. — Chapel preaching to the people. — Best time 
for such services. — Educational work. — Good influence 
of schools. — Incident of Yun-ha-teen. — Work of heal- 
ing. — Special work for women. — Stations inland. — The 
Basel Mission on the East River. — Radiation of work 
from Canton. — Stations to the east. — Experiences at 
Shek-lung; Liu-p6 ; Pok-lo. — Stations in the Tsung-fa 



Contents, xv 



valley. — Work in Fat-Shdn. — North-River stations, — 
Tsing-iin. — Lien-chow. — Flourishing work of theWesleyan 
Mission in Shiu-kwdn. — West-River stations. — Stations 
in the south and southwest. — Hainan opened. — Each 
station a centre. — Statistics. — Two classes of people, — 
Pun-ti and Hakka. — The Tartars. — The work firmly 
established 194 

CHAPTER XI. 

FOREIGN AGENTS. 

Climate of Canton. — Houses. — Mode of life. — Social 
amenities. — Criticism of travellers. — First impressions. 

— Study of the language ; its peculiarities. — Examples of 
blunders made. — Fluent speakers. — The written lan- 
guage ; not understood when read. — The field of activity 
opened. — The work of translation ; two lines pursued. 

— Dictionaries. — Dr. Legge's edition of the Classics. — 
Mr. Faber's works. — Versions of the Bible. — Commen- 
taries. — Mr. Selby's Life of Christ. — Text-books. — 
The use of the colloquial dialect. — Union version of the 
Gospels and Acts ; its advantages. — Attractions of literary 
work 213 

CHAPTER XII. 

PREACHING BY MISSIONARIES. 

Importance of preaching. — How to preach to the native 
churches. — Narrative style. — Use of illustrations. — Stand- 

' ard of intelligence. — Qualification of the preacher. — Im- 
portance of instructing the native Church. — Preaching to 
the heathen. — Chapels in Canton. — Various methods. — 
Use of passing events. — " The man burned at the altar." 

— The unanswered prayer for rain. — Use of the Classics. 

— Singleness of aim essential. — Use of blackboard for 
texts. — Interruptions from two classes of men. — Literary 
examination and preaching to students. — Opposition 



XVI Contents. 



PAGE 

preaching-halls. — Evangelistic tours. — Christian services 
at out-stations. — Rudeness and insult. — Preaching under 
the banyans. — The first sermon in Chik-hom. — Experi- 
ence at Lung-kong. — Preaching in temples. — Absurd 
beliefs. — Sale of books. — Luck of the land stolen. — Inci- 
dents of indignity. — Attractive scenery 233 

CHAPTER XIII. 
EDUCATIONAL WORK. 

Primary schools. — Chinese type of boys' school. — Course 
of study. — " Canon of Filial Piety." — Examples. — Chris- 
tian schools. — " Backing " the books. — Female education. 

— The great Lady Tsao. — Methods in girls' schools. — 
Chinese teachers. — Boarding-schools for boys. — Female 
seminary under Miss Noyes. — Purely educational. — 
Sketches of native assistant teachers. — Religious influence 
in the school. — The prayer chamber. — The course of 
study. — The New Testament memorized. — The women's 
department. — The school held in high estimation. — Edu- 
cating a native ministry. — Training-schools. — Presbyte- 
rian methods. — Courses of study. — German theological 
school. — Methods of the Wesleyan Mission ; of the Bap- 
tist Mission. — Private classes. — Classes at out-stations. 

— Gospel of Matthew memorized in three days. — General 
influences. — The school a perpetual sermon. — Schoolboy 
assaulted. — Educational series of text-books 253 

CHAPTER XIV. 

MEDICAL WORK. 

The great hospital. — Dr. Parker its first physician. — Dr. 
Kerr's thirty years. — Present property and location. — 
Name in Chinese. — Statistics of patients and operations. 

— Branch dispensaries. — Diseases treated. — The class of 
people who come. — Miracles expected. — The girl whose 
feet came off. — Submission to operations. — Ignorance and 
superstition. — Chinese have no medical science. — Abb^ 



Contents, xvii 



PAGE 

Hue's experience. — Chinese dentistry. — Outside and in- 
side treatment. — Native assistant surgeons. — Dr. So-to- 
meng's operations for cataract. — Capital operations. — 
Special demand for the physician. — Medical tours through 
the country. — Characters met. — Teeth extracted. — In- 
struction of students. — Certificates of competency. — 
Preparation of medical books. — Dr. Kerr's work in this 
line. — Religious work in the hospital. — Wesleyan hospi- 
tal in Fat-Shdn. — Hospital in Canton not sectarian. — 
Opium-smokers cured. — Lepers. — Vaccination. — Good 
influences. — Incident of woman converted. — Thanks 
bestowed. — Rival Chinese hospital. — Good results. — 
Wide field. — Young physician needed. — Grand aggregate 
of good 271 



CHAPTER XV. 



WORK FOR WOMEN. 



Position of woman a crucial test. — The conversion of the 
women the hope of China. — The work at present. — Ladies 
assisted by teachers and Bible-women. — Four sections of 
the work. — Meetings in connection with day-schools. — 
Visiting the houses. — Pathetic story of little A-Keet. — 
Among the women in the hospital. — The woman who be- 
lieved, but knew nothing of baptism. — '* The house of the 
worshippers of Jesus." — Bible-women at out-stations. — 
Atsit at Liu-p6. — Mrs. Lee-Sam. — Fung-Kiu. —Visits 
to village schools. — Delegation of women. — The first 
visit to a house in San-ui. — Levee for women at Lien- 
chow. — Encouraging indications 292 

CHAPTER XVI. 
WORK FOR ORPHANS AND OUTCASTS. 

Infanticide. — Girls only destroyed. — The practice in San- 
ning and San-hing. — Native foundling houses. — Number 
received annually. — Their treatment. — " Devil grannies." 

b 



xviii Contents. 



FAGB 

— Slaves in families. — Traffic in young girls. — Mrs. 
Henry's orphanage. — Sketches of May-Yan ; Oi-keet ; 
Lock-tuck ; Tsoy-Shang. — The blessings of such work. — 
Berlin Foundling Home in Hong-Kong. — Supplies wives 
for native preachers. — A young man's rebuff. — The blind ; 
no systematic work for them. — Old people. — Work of 
the Baptist ladies. — Leper settlements. — Village near 
Canton. — Work begun for them. — Leper with a Bible. — 
Incident in Swatow 308 

CHAPTER XVH. 
NATIVE AGENTS. 

Native pastors. — Churches need them. — Experience of mis- 
sionaries as pastors. — Sketch of Kwan-Loy; converted 
in California. — Experience in Kau-Kong. — Reward for 
his head. — Twice mobbed. — His style of preaching. — 
Evangelists ; their methods. — Formal work. — Lack of 
originality. — Mak-Shui as an orator. — Discourse on moral 
paralysis. — Ch'an-Mung-nam's sermon: "In all things 
more than conquerors." — Au-Fung-chi's versatility. — 
Wong-Shing's dignity and force. — Lau-Wy-chiu rough and 
ready. — The Gospel bowl of savory broth. — Uen-Nga- 
kok's heroic fidelity. — Ho- Kwai-tak's devotion. — Fidelity 
of assistants as a body. — The colporteurs. — The first 
Protestant Christian martyr. — School-teachers. - Confu- 
cian tablet worshipped in schools. — Village teacher the 
general scribe. — Influence of personal teachers .... 321 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 

Charge of hypocrisy no longer true. — Their character. — Re- 
ception of applicants. — Varied religious experiences. — 
The school-girl. — The peasant woman. — The scholar. — 
Standard of qualification. — Request for baptism mis- 
understood. — Sad experience. — Instances of fidelity 
among those not well instructed. — Woman from the inte- 



Contents. xix 



PAGB 



rior. — Old peasant woman and her nephew. — Lack of a 
vivid sense of sin. — Moving scenes. — Simple faith. — 
Direct prayers. — Views of Providence. — Plague among 
the cattle. — The sick child. — Readiness to take part in 
services. — Fondness for singing. — Christian unity. — 
Influence of the term question. — Sectarianism in the back- 
ground. — No organic unity. — Future creed and church 
polity. — Quarterly meetings. — Bi-monthly conference. — 
Practical subjects discussed. — Foot-binding. — Anti-opium 
sentiment. — No opium-smoker admitted to the church. — 
Education of children. — Zealous efforts 338 

CHAPTER XIX. 

TRIALS OF CONVERTS. 

Courage to profess Christ. — Personal abuse. — Public pla- 
cards. — Unreasoning hatred. — Trials in the family. — 
The mother's lament. — Young man chained. — Young 
man converted. — Opposition of his mother. — Opium-pipe 
handed to guests. — Baptism on a birthday prevented. — 
Lee-yen's experience. — Mo-Hing's troubles. — Foes in the 
household. — Paralytic deserted. — A Banner-man's trials. 

— Engagement broken off. — Trials of women and girls. — 
Treatment at and after marriage. — A-Hung's feet bound. — 
Ejection from clans. — Lee-Keng-00's trials. — Injustice to 
Wong-Fook ; his daughter lost. — Loss of property. — 
Leung- Yem's misfortunes. — Kwan-Loy and his brother. — 
Shek-lin, the Christian contractor. — Loss of employment. 

— Expulsion from guilds. — Exemption from idolatrous 
taxation. — Two cents refused and dollars lost. — Women 
in country districts. — Persecution at Chik-hom. — Claims 

for sympathy 357 

CHAPTER XX. 
TESTS OF FAITH. 

Character of Chinese Christians. — Conversion of opium- 
smokers and gamblers. — Lo-Look's Christ-like spirit. — 



XX Contents, 



Christian girl before the ancestral tablets. — Peasant 
woman's endurance. — Deaf and dumb man converted. — 
Victory over selfishness. — Knives crossed over the 
preacher's throat. — Stoned almost to death. — Prayer for 
enemies. — Faith kept. — Martyr spirits. — Moral renova- 
tion. — Koon-Yam-chook. — Tree blown down. — Trials 
in the past year. — Christian-Banner men tested. — Sum- 
moned to abjure their faith. — Official rebuked. — Lo-fu 
sold as a coolie. — Death of Christians. — Yam-a-lin and 
his aunt. — Elders. — Lau-Hing and Liu-Kiu. — *' Praise 
Jesus ! " 376 

CHAPTER XXI. 

CHRISTIAN GIVING AND SELF-SUPPORT. 

Practical test. — Lack of systematic effort. — Poverty of the 
converts. — Isolation. — Heathenism essentially selfish. — 
Free gospel. — Idolatrous taxation. — Difference of motive. 
— A matter of education. — Two forms. — Giving in gen- 
eral. — Self-support. — Work in Second Church. — Col- 
porteurs. — Church edifice. — School. — Native pastor. — 
Spirit of elders and pastor. — Church at Chik-hom. — 
London Mission Church. — Baptists in Tsing-uen and 
Tsung-fa, — Chinese Missionary Society. — Methods of 
contribution. — Printed forms. — Two principles. — Chris- 
tians must not fall short of the gifts to false gods. — One 
tenth required. — Example necessary. — Missionaries must 
give one tenth. — Definite objects required. — Taking deep 
root. — Ashamed of prolonged infancy. — Lo-Kwdn gives 
one fifth. — A-fat gives four fifths. — The widow's mite. — 
Generous support indicated 393 

CHAPTER XXIL 

CRITICISMS OF TRAVELLERS, AND ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 

Work of missions viewed. — Three stages of thought. — Dis- 
appointment. — Despair. — Wonder. — Reports of travellers. 



Contents, xxi 



— Hasty visits. — Sources of information. — Indifference 
of residents. — A few liostile. — Some interested. — Igno- 
rance of clergymen. — Criminal's skull, — Relation of mis- 
sionaries to other foreign residents. — Mr. Darwin's 
observations. — Relations of Protestant missions to those 
of Rome. — Matteo Ricci's policy. — Comparison of sta- 
tistics. — Church of the " Heavenly Lord " and the Church 
of Jesus. — Success in the past. — Cathedral in Canton. — 
Priests in Chinese dress. — No public preaching. — Mr. 
Kong's experience. — Works of merit. — Reception of 
members. — Worship of saints. — Political protection. — 
"Are you a French priest?"— Interference with Wesleyans 
in Ying-tok. — Distinguished converts in the past. — No 
hope of general prevalence under the present policy . . 410 

CHAPTER XXHI. 
TEACHING ENGLISH. 

Not a new question. — English teaching in past years. — Not 
needed to aid mission work. — Chinese views of it. — Key 
to fortune. — Mercenary motives. — Signs of the times. — 
Political side. — Scientific side. — Independent minds. — 
The crust breaking. — Glorious future for China. — The 
question at present. — Higher education. — Real students. 

— Knowledge desired for its own sake. — Men of progress. 

— Cosmopolitan truth. — EngUsh language a conservatory 
of knowledge. — Liberal policy. — Native scholars' opinion. 

— Shall we help them ? — Commendable desires. — Chris- 
tian influence excluded. — Scientific works translated. — 
Peking University. — The practical issues 427 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

A CHRISTIAN COLLEGE FOR CANTON. 

Plans to pursue. — Not teach English in mission schools. — 
Missionaries cannot do it. — A central college. — Course 
of study. — Three points. — Bearing on the Church. — 



xxii Contents. 



Training young men for pastors and teachers. — Need of 
higher education. — Advantage to medical training. — The 
present a time of transition. — Changes in the style of 
education. — Staff of teachers needed. — A great opportu- 
nity. — All truth is one. — No merit to accept a position of 
less influence. — Science from a Christian standpoint. — 
Evils of non-Christian education. — Teaching received on 
authority. — Highest form of mission-work. — Spread of 
science, — Its bearing on the Chinese. — Vigor of the race. 
— Day of wider knowledge. — Dr. Draper's opinion. — 
Not troe of the Chinese. — Six periods of intellectual 
expansion. — Struggle with Confucianism. — A literary 
people. — Extent of education. — Examinations ; num- 
ber who pass. — Army of scholars. — Many agencies at 
work. — Telegraph. — Trend of outward events. — Foun- 
tain of knowledge. — Prospect of success. — Endowment 
needed. — Scope for talent. — Cup of learning. — Wide 
influence 439 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK. 

Each decade raises the standard. — Unclassified influences. — 
Imitation the highest commendation. — Decline of idolatry. 

— Opinion of Chinese gentlemen. — Hidden disciples. — 
Father Tsun, "the Jesus man." — Old Mr. Wong. — Influ- 
ence of preaching in Canton secured chapel in the interior. 

— Hundreds of thousands who know. — Providential 
preparation. — The work in hand. — Scores of men needed. 

— Work for five hundred. — The means inadequate. — 
China's claims on the Church. — Difficulties. — The great 
conflict. — Proportionate effort. — The islands of the Pa- 
cific. — Permanence of results in China. — Two great races. 

— Providential indications. — Proportion of missionaries 
required. — Resources of Canton. — An acceptable offer- 
ing. — The whole land reached in five years 458 



Contents. xxiii 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ADVANCE INTO THE INTERIOR. 

PAGE 

Special openings. — Shiu-Kwdn. — Entrance to Hunan. — 
Lien-chow. — Attractive surroundings. — Centre of important 
districts. — Hunanese. — Aborigines in the mountains. — 
Populous districts of Heung-Shan and San-ui< — Ko-chow. 
— Special features and claims of that section. — Hainan; 
history of its opening. — Friendly reception assured. — 
Size of the island. — Climate. — People. — The Les ; their 
history and character. — Language. — Providential opening 
and call for occupation. — Kwong-si. — Baptist mission at 
Ng-chovv. — Presbyterians at Kwei-ping. — Anti-foreign 
demonstrations. — Experience of English officer of Chinese 
army. — Present work of exploration. — Yunnan. — Expe- 
ditions in the interests of commerce. — Sparse population. 
The millions unreached. — Condition of the people. — 
Responsibility laid on the Church. — Call to young men. — 
Work to be done which no one else can do. — God's call to 
His people 469 



INTRODUCTION. 



A GREAT, steel-gray river, full of boats kept noticeably neat, 
with families dwelling in them constantly ; a wide, rolling, 
green, fertile country, highly cultivated ; pagoda towers looking 
down through the windy sunshine on the passing steamers and 
ships ; a walled city of impressive size, of low brown and red 
roofs, fronted by swarming wharves, — this is the picture which 
rises in my memory as I recall my approach to Canton, where 
it was my good fortune to be the guest of the author of this 
series of searching and authoritative chapters on China. 

In sedan chairs, through narrow but tidy streets, crowded 
with most typical Chinese forms, we visited Chinese temples, 
examination grounds, chief places of trade, schools, picturesque 
points of view, medical hospitals, preaching-stations ; and so my 
thoughts were filled with a multitude of novel and interesting 
images. 

It was in moments of leisure, however, when I could sit 
down and question my host and guide, or cross-examine a score 
of his heroic co-laborers in his parlors, that I learned most. 
President McCosh's great and good name was a bond of sym- 
pathy between us, for my host was a recent graduate of Prince- 
ton, and full of enthusiasm for classical and philosophical study. 
I nevertheless saw my guide at his best when he opened the 
stores of his knowledge of that vast Empire to whose regenera- 
tion he had consecrated his life. 

The puzzle of the Chinese mind, character, politics, social 
life, and religion, I, for one, have found no keys to unlock 



XXVI Introduction, 



except the conversation and writings of missionaries who have 
studied these subjects for years at first-hand. I congratulate 
the reader of this volume on the opportunity it gives him of 
absorbing ripe opinions on high matters concerning which ordi- 
nary books of travel are poor authorities. 

The historian Gibbon tells us that Rome, at the height of her 
power, governed only one hundred and twenty millions of men. 
China contains at least twice that number. The dawn of Occi- 
dental forms of civilization, the day-star of Christianity, begin to 
rise on these uncounted masses of human beings in their land 
of vast and varied resources. This book is a vivid picture of 
the holy breaking of the Light after an Oriental night. The 
obscure stars and the moon of Confucianism and Taoism and 
Buddhism and worship of ancestors have walked through the 
Chinese sky, but the unmeasured spiritual landscapes of the 
Orient have been without the vivifying influence of the sun. 
Their capacities to produce new growths under its stimulation 
are undoubtedly immense. There is no new and sacred sight 
open to the eyes of present generations better worth study 
than the rising of the unobscured orb of Christianity in the 
Far East. 

JOSEPH COOK. 

Boston, Feb. 20, 1885. 



THE CROSS AND THE DRAGON, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BROAD EAST AND ITS POPULATION. 

CANTON, as the scene of the first Protestant Mis- 
sions to China, will ever hold a prominent place 
in the history of the Christian Church in the Far East. 
Its importance from a commercial, from a political, 
and from a literary point of view ; its great population 
and the accessibility of the people, together with its 
commanding situation with respect to the surrounding 
country, — make it one of the most promising and in- 
fluential centres of mission work in the whole Empire. 
The city itself is a wonderful field for work, and might 
easily absorb the energies of many times the number 
of missionaries now in the whole province, and yet come 
far short of exhausting the possibilities of the field or 
improving to the utmost the opportunities presented. 
The vast population of the city, numbering probably 
not less than one million five hundred thousand, is daily 
augmented by the thousands that come in from all sides 
on business and pleasure. The city presents the appear- 
ance of a great hive, its narrow streets thronged with 
busy multitudes passing incessantly to and fro, intent 

I 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



upon their various callings. They crowd and push and 
jostle each other, but are seldom noisy and seldom 
quarrel. It is the great emporium of the South; the 
meeting-place of many nationalities drawn thither by 
various motives ; the grand centre of influence for the 
whole vast region south of the Mei-ling Ridge. The 
field of our enterprise, however, is not confined to 
the city, but extends to the wide region that opens out 
in all directions from this central point. With the help 
of the map and a few lessons in geography, some con- 
ception of the situation and extent of the country may 
be gained that will be of much service to us as we study 
the work in detail. 

The mission field of Canton, which we are to con- 
sider, does not include the extreme eastern portion of 
the province, which is separated from the middle and 
western portions by ranges of hills and mountains, and 
drained by a system of rivers that find their outlet near 
the port of Swatow. Another barrier in the shape of 
a difTerent dialect cuts ofif the people of that section 
from their countrymen to the west. In this region a 
flourishing work is energetically carried on by the Eng- 
lish Presbyterians and the American Baptists, and we 
have but to refer to the reports of the Swatow Missions 
under these two societies to be assured of the hopeful 
prospects of the cause there. 

The field of Canton, as it comes under our notice, 
embraces the whole middle and western portions of the 
province of Kwong-Tung, and nearly, if not quite, the 
whole of the adjoining province of Kwong-Si, — which 
broad territory, with the exception of a limited portion 



The Broad East and its Population, 3 

to the southwest, is drained by that vast river system 
whose numerous tributaries east, north, and west con- 
verge near the provincial city. 

This whole country is practically open to missionary 
enterprise. This statement, though broad and unquali- 
fied, conveys a very inadequate idea of the true state of 
things to one unacquainted with the place and ignorant 
of the relative positions of different parts of the land. 
A country may be fully open in one sense : no serious 
opposition may be made to the advent of the mission- 
ary, or the continued presence and work of his assist- 
ants ; but the means of travel and the accommodations 
afforded may be such that much time would necessarily 
be consumed in going from place to place, and much 
fatigue and hardship in proportion to the work done be 
entailed on those who undertook such enterprises. No 
such difficulties are met with in Canton. The country 
is not only open to those who would go to its farthest 
corners, but the means of travel and accommodation 
by the way are all that could be desired. The river 
system is such as to afford the utmost facility for reach- 
ing the various parts of the four great prefectures of 
Kwong-Chow, Shiu-Chow, Shiu-Hing, and Wei-Chow, 
which form the main central portion of the province ; 
and by the chief artery in this system, the West River, 
whose whole length has been recently surveyed and 
laid open by Messrs. Colquhon and Wahab, in their 
journey '* Across Chryse," the province of Kwong-Si 
is pierced through to its farthest border, while several 
large branches and many smaller tributaries from the 
north and south make its remotest corners accessible to 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



the traveller. Actual experience and observation on 
the spot are necessary to give one an adequate idea 
of the wonderful facilities which the numerous water- 
courses afford. As though in anticipation of the great 
work that was some day to be done for this people, the 
way has been prepared by which they can be reached 
with a minimum of hardship and discomfort. 

In order to a clearer understanding of the extent 
and condition of this great field now thrown open for 
Christian work, and a fuller appreciation of the facilities 
which place every part of it within easy reach of those 
to whom this work is committed, it will be necessary to 
go somewhat into detail in considering the extent of the 
country, its natural features, and the distribution of the 
people. 

It will be more convenient in every way, in giving 
an account of the country, to follow the natural divi- 
sions of the land, rather than the political divisions into 
departments and districts. 

We begin then at the port of entrance, and after a 
brief pause in the city of Hong-Kong, so beautiful for 
situation, and made attractive by such a multiplicity of 
charms, natural, historical, or accidental, step on board 
the river steamer, and are conveyed in comfort across 
the bay of " The Lonely Isle " (Lintin), through the 
" Tiger Gate " (Fu-mun), up the broad course of the 
Pearl River, with fine pagodas to the south, some on 
lofty hills, others rising majestically from lower eleva- 
tions near the water, and broad rice-fields and extensive 
banana plantations filling the plains on either side that 
stretch from the hills to the shore ; past the old town of 




THE GREAT PLACE GATE. 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



Whampoa, once the key to the sealed Empire, until the 
towers of the " City of Rams " ^ appear in sight. Shoals 
of boats of every description line the shores for miles, 
backed in many places by unsightly rows of wooden 
huts reared on piles above the sHmy mud of the tidal 
river. At first sight the whole city seems one solid mass 
of low houses, with here and there a square tower rising 
above its humbler neighbors ; the narrow streets being 
scarcely distinguishable from the deck of the steamer. 
From the breezy deck and comparative quiet of the 
steamer, we are suddenly transferred into the midst of 
the hot atmosphere and seething masses of humanity 
that crowd the wharves and press through the narrow 
streets. We soon realize that we are in China. Every 
sense is assaulted and overwhelmed with proof that we 
are in the midst of a people of strange and peculiar 
speech and habits. Without pausing to recount the ex- 
perience which so many have felt in seeing the lions of 
this great city, we simply note its thronging population, 
its many and varied industries, the evident facilities and 
wonderful opportunities it presents for every kind of 
Christian and benevolent work, and then proceed on our 
tour of inspection through the great country inland. 

From Canton, as the starting point, our first course 
is to its sister city, the great mart of Fat-Shan, fifteen 
miles to the west. It is called the Birmingham of China, 
and with a population of five hundred thousand, busy 
in their grain depots, manufactories, and multitudinous 
industries, rivals in wealth and commercial importance 
the provincial city itself. With Canton and Fat-Shan 

1 Canton is so-called from the legend of its foundation. 



The Broad East and its Population. 7 

as the northern Hmit and base of observation, we look 
out upon the great delta formed by the union, mingling, 
and subsequent division of the waters of the three great 
rivers that flow into the sea, through their numerous 
mouths, to the south of us. This delta is one of the 
most remarkable in the world. It is enclosed by the 
Pearl River on the east and north, this side being about 
one hundred miles in extent, and by the West River on 
the west, which flows down on that side in a broad, deep 
volume for about eighty miles, while the base of the tri- 
angle along the sea-coast is between forty and fifty miles 
long. This delta is not all flat and marshy. It has 
mountains of considerable height and numerous hills in 
various parts, with many stretches of elevated land, 
forming favorable sites for towns and cities. The 
greater part of it is composed of rich, level plains, of 
alluvial formation, partially flooded at high tide, and the 
whole under the highest cultivation. The rich, delicate 
green of the growing rice, extending for miles without a 
break, is a pleasure to the eye, especially when the wind 
sets the grain in motion and causes it to rise and fall 
like billows in a sea of verdure. From these fields 
astonishing crops of rice are harvested twice a year, 
thousands of busy hands cutting it off with sickles. In 
the time between the rice crops, vegetables are grown 
on the more favorable portions of the land. Nearly the 
whole of the eastern and southern parts of the delta are 
given up to the cultivation of rice, while the western 
portion is almost wholly devoted to the cultivation of 
the mulberry-shrub and the rearing of silk-worms. 
The mulberry plantations arc on ground raised artificially 



8 The Cross and the Dragon. 

above the reach of the tides, with deep trenches and 
numerous fish-ponds to drain off the surplus moist- 
ure. The shrubs are cut down to the ground every 
year, and the soil is richly fertilized to produce a luxuri- 
ant growth of tender leaves. The plants yield a fresh 
supply of leaves every forty days after the season be- 
gins, and are usually stripped six times each year, the 
leaves produced varying in value from fifty cents to 
three dollars per picul (133^ lbs.). The delta is inter- 
sected in every direction by rivers, creeks, and canals, 
the only means of transport being by boats ; but by these 
every town, village, and hamlet can be reached. Hun- 
dreds of towns and thousands of villages, varying in 
population from one thousand to several hundred thou- 
sands, cover the wide extent of this fertile district. It 
contains seven or eight cities of over one hundred thou- 
sand each, and at least a dozen others of over fifty 
thousand each, besides many important places of smaller 
size. In the silk district are found the most populous 
and wealthy towns, — the chief among these being Kow- 
Kong, which is said to contain one million of people in 
a space seven miles long by five miles broad. A few 
miles north of this are Lung-Shan and Lung-Kong, 
lying near together, both well known as large, wealthy, 
and important silk cities, with several hundred thousand 
people. To the south are Wong-lien, Lak-low, and 
Kom-chuk, familiar names in the silk market, each with 
at least fifty thousand people ; while around the base of 
the Sai-tsiu Hills are several large and busy towns. All 
these places in the silk district come within the easy 
round of a day's travel. 



The Broad East and its Population. 9 

In the rice district we find, twenty miles south of 
Canton, the mart of Ch'an-tsiin, with not less than one 
hundred thousand people. It is one of the principal 
ports for native commerce; several hundred sea-going 
junks plying a brisk trade, both export and import, 
with the towns along the sea-coast as far north as 
Shanghai. A run of twenty miles to the south of this 
brings us, after passing several large towns, to Tai- 
Leung, the capital of the Shun-tak district, with an 
almost equally numerous population, very prosperous 
and energetic. Ten miles farther on are two important 
towns, Yung-ki and Kwai-Chow, the latter being several 
miles in extent, built along the base and partly on the 
side of a low hill, and containing a population closely 
approaching one hundred thousand. Beyond this we 
enter the district of Heung-Shan, which stretches down 
to the sea, and has many large towns and important 
centres of trade and influence. Its principal town is 
Siu-lam, with a population variously reckoned at three 
hundred thousand and upward. All this rich delta, 
with its millions of people, lies in immediate proximity 
to Canton. 

Crossing the West River, which forms the western 
boundary of the great delta, at a point seventy-five 
miles southwest of Canton, we come to another system 
of rivers, to which we are introduced by a series of 
canals leading from the West River across the interven- 
ing lowlands. We have scarcely left the main stream, 
as we turn into the canal, when we come upon the im- 
portant commercial town of Kong-Mun, with at least 
one hundred thousand people. It is the point of 



10 The Cross and the Dragon, 

entrance for a large district, and carries on a prosperous 
trade with the towns on the sea-coast, from Hong-Kong 
down to Cochin China. I have seen nearly one hun- 
dred sea-going junks anchored in front of the town at 
one time. Five miles west of this is the district city of 
San-ui, one of the largest of its order, with a population 
of two hundred and fifty thousand. It is the centre of 
the fan district, large plantations of the fan-palm stretch- 
ing on either side of the streams as we approach the 
city. A mile or two more, and we have left the narrow 
canal and entered a broad river which flows out to the 
sea through the celebrated Ngai-Mun, where the last 
Emperor of the Sung dynasty was drowned. This river 
drains by its several branches the districts of Hoi-ping 
and Yan-ping, and parts of San-ui, San-ning, and Hok- 
Shan, the districts from which most of the people who 
go abroad to America and Australia hail. The plains 
through which these streams flow are crowded with 
towns and villages, and busy multitudes throng the mar- 
ket towns on every hand. From the top of Centipede 
Hill (Pak-tsuk-Shan), opposite the large town of Chik- 
hom, three hundred and fifty villages can be seen, the 
average number of inhabitants to each being probably 
not less than two thousand. The farthest point reached 
by water in this direction is the city of Yan-ping, one 
hundred and fifty miles from Canton, from which a 
portage road leads in one day's journey over tlie divid- 
ing ridge of hills to the district of Yeung-Kong, and 
placing the traveller within the reach of water facil- 
ities, again introduces him to a fertile and populous 
valley. 



The Broad East and its Poptilation. ii 

Coming back to the West River, we proceed up its 
broad course, the delta stretching away on the right, and 
a series of plains between hills and mountains on the 
left. We pass a number of important towns on its 
banks, among them Ku-16, famed for its fragrant tea, so 
popular among the Chinese. Several small streams 
come in from the left, one of them leading into the 
heart of Hok-Shan district, through populous plains 
covered with large towns and villages, and another to 
the city of K6-Ming. 

Coming to the junction of the three rivers, the West, 
the North, and the Pearl, at Sam-Shui (Three Waters), 
at the very apex of the triangle of the delta, we turn 
to the west and follow the course of the broad river as 
it comes down from the interior provinces It is the 
great highway of water leading through the province of 
Kwang-Si to the more distant province of Yunnan. 
These provinces are still new ground to the missionary, 
but are being explored by the pioneers of the gospel. 
In Kwang-Si the water facilities are superb, and the 
larger part of its great population is accessible from the 
rivers. Just within its eastern border we find its chief 
city, Ng-Chow, occupying the best strategic point from 
which to control the commerce of the interior. Ascend- 
ing the main stream we reach the Kwai (or Cassia) River, 
flowing in from the north. It descends from the moun- 
tainous districts on the north, flowing past Kwai-lam, 
the capital of the province, sweeping down its rocky 
course over rapids, through gorges, past the starting 
place of the great Tai-ping rebellion, until its turbulent 
waters find rest in the broad and placid West River. 



12 The Cross and the Dragon, 

Farther up, the stream divides again, one large branch 
coming down from Low-Chow, the headwaters of which 
are found among the hills of the northern border, its 
upper branches leading far into the valleys and gorges 
of the dividing ridge, showing the way to the haunts of 
many aboriginal tribes on the borders of the province 
of Kwai-Chow. Many large and important towns are 
passed on the way to Nam-ning, the leading city in the 
southern part of the province. The head of navigation 
is reached at a point eight hundred miles from Canton, 
and disembarking at the town of Pak-shik (Pe-se), the 
overland journey into Yunnan begins. Along the lower 
course of the West River, as it flows through the pre- 
fecture of Shiu-Hing, are numerous towns, chief among 
them being the prefectural city itself 

Returning to the junction of the Three Rivers, we 
turn our course up the North River, which flows down 
nearly three hundred miles from the extreme northern 
boundary of the province, and is navigable almost to 
the sources of its several branches. Along its banks at 
short intervals are many important towns. Several 
small streams enter it in the lower half of its course, 
one of these, the Sz-Ui River, leading up through a 
populous country, past two district cities, into the next 
province. In the upper half of its course the North 
River passes through the prefecture of Shiu-Chow, and 
by its principal branch, the Lien-Chow River, to the city 
of that name. Coming back to Canton, our attention 
is directed to a number of small streams leading in vari- 
ous directions, chiefly to the north and west, through 
thickly populated regions. One of these, fifty miles 



The Broad East and its Population. 13 

long, leads northwest into the Fa district, the birth- 
place and home of Hung-Sau-tsiin, the leader of the 
Tai-pings. Another, one hundred miles long, leads 
north, through a rich and attractive farming country, to 
the Tsung-fa district. 

Turning toward the rising sun, we come to the region 
of the East River, with its numerous tributaries. Near 
the mouth of this stream is the rich and populous dis- 
trict of Tung-Kun, intersected by many smaller streams 
that afford access to nearly every part of it. On the 
banks of this river is the important city of Shek-lung, 
with one hundred thousand people. It is a great sugar 
depot, and the centre of a large general trade. A few 
miles from this place is the entrance to the Ch'a-Uen 
River, a small stream that flows through a wonderfully 
populous district known as Hap-Noi, or '' inside the 
Pass," where in a comparatively small space are over 
a thousand villages, some of them with from fifteen 
to twenty thousand people each. On a tour in this 
region, in less than two weeks time I visited over one 
hundred towns and villages without unusual fatigue or 
exertion. Ten miles west of Shek-lung the Tsang-Shing 
River flows in from the north ; it passes through the 
district of the same name, flowing down about eighty 
miles from Lung-Mun, through the outlying hills of the 
great Loh-fow mountains, and affords access to many 
important places. In its upper and middle course the 
East River passes through the prefecture of Wei-Chow, 
reaching by its tributaries into many of the distant dis- 
tricts, and opening the way into broad and populous 
regions of country. 



14 The Cross and the Dragon. 



Such in brief outline is the country before us, with 
its cities and towns and numerous streams, — those 
great arteries along which flow the life and business of 
the province. It took ages for the people of China to 
discover and utilize all the wondrous facilities their 
country affords. So it will take many years for us 
fully to appreciate the natural provisions made for 
facilitating our work. Divided from the northern part 
of the Empire by a long continuous ridge, these rich 
southern provinces did not become a part of the Middle 
Kingdom until the second century before Christ, and 
then the attachment was more nominal than real. It 
was not until the second century of the Christian era 
that the region south of the ridge, known as the coun- 
try of the " nine savage tribes," became permanently 
incorporated as a part of the Empire under the great 
Han-Wu-ti. The story of those old expeditions, when 
the conquering leaders crossed the ridge and descended 
the unexplored rivers through leagues of silent forests, 
till they came to the site of the present city of Canton, 
are full of interest even as transmitted to us in the 
scanty records of the period. Some of those early 
generals have left their names in places where they 
passed, and some have been deified, and receive wor- 
ship from boatmen and travellers to this day. In those 
early days colonization was pushed on a mammoth 
scale, when five hundred thousand military colonists 
were despatched at one time to find wives as best they 
could, and plant the Empire of the Hans on the rich 
coast-lands along the southern sea. They laid deep the 
foundation of their kingdom, Canton being ever the 



The Broad East and its Population, 15 

centre of life and influence receiving seaward the com- 
merce of the ocean, and converging all the lines of com- 
munication inland to its one focal point. The same 
considerations that made it so important as the centre 
of government, trade, and education, show its equal im- 
portance as the centre of that great enterprise of the 
Church, whose end is the establishment of that king- 
dom that shall never end. The thousands of miles of 
river and canal navigable at all seasons ; the thousands 
of towns and cities that line their banks ; the millions of 
people brought within easy reach by the wonderful 
facihties for travel, — proclaim it to be one of the 
widest, most important, and most accessible fields 
open to Christian effort. 



1 6 The Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER II. 

FACILITIES FOR REACHING THE PEOPLE. 

" I ^HE country to be reached is very broad, and the 
-■- people exceedingly numerous ; but the facilities for 
travel are equal to every demand, and render commu- 
nication with almost every part a comparatively easy 
matter. The whole land is traversed by streams of 
various sizes, navigable by boats adapted to the charac- 
ter of these streams. There are but few places of con- 
sequence that cannot be reached by boat ; and of those 
places which cannot be reached directly, the most im- 
portant can be approached to within a half day's or a 
day's journey, which renders them quite accessible. 
Boats are the great means of communication, sedan or 
mountain chairs being resorted to only in rare cases of 
necessity, and then only for short stages. For general 
utility and adaptation to the necessities of the case, these 
boats are certainly the most suitable conveyances that 
could be found. There are several kinds, each of which 
has some special feature to recommend it. We leave 
out of question the native passenger boats, which ply 
by scores between the large towns. Owing to their 
general discomfort, lack of room, over-crowded cabins, 
and the danger of contracting contagious diseases, they 
are seldom used by the missionary, and only when they 



Facilities for Reaching the People. 1 7 

go directly to some point where better accommodations 
are attainable. When we have but a day or two to give 
to the trip, or wish to go directly to some station where 
a room is prepared for us, the kind usually employed is 
the ma-laiigy or " slipper-boat," which, with a crew of 
from three to six rowers, travels at the rate of from four 
to ten miles an hour, according to the state of the tide 
or current. These boats are sometimes called the 




A SLIPPER BOAT. 

Chinese '' Express." They are in shape somewhat like 
a slipper, being closed at the toe and widely open at the 
heel, where the rowers stand to propel the boat with a 
single pair of oars, all hands uniting in one heavy stroke. 
The passengers recline on mats in the narrow tapering 
shell, their heads eased by wooden pillows. If the trip 
is to extend for a longer period, and speed is an im- 
portant consideration, the kind known in Canton as the 



1 8 The Cross and the Dragon, 

*'Tsz-tung" boats — so called from the place where they 
were first built — are then employed. They are square- 
shaped boats with flat bottoms, have oblong cabins from 
five to seven feet long, and about the same height, and are 
comfortably furnished with chairs, tables, beds, and lamps. 
They carry a single mast, and are good sailers. When 
the wind fails, the crews resort to oars, and poles, and 
tracking lines. If our course is up some of the smaller 
streams, where the water is shallow or the river filled 
with rapids and dams, another kind is required, — long, 
low, narrow boats, built specially for such streams, and 
not utterly devoid of comfort. If our object is not so 
much to hurry from place to place as to canvass thor- 
oughly the districts through which we are passing, then 
the best kind to travel in is the Ho-fau-boat. This is 
the kind usually employed by the Chinese officials in 
moving from one city to another; hence these boats 
are frequently called " Mandarin barges," the original 
name coming from the district where they are made, 
and from which their crews invariably hail. They are 
large, light draft-boats, with extensive cabins entirely at 
the disposal of the traveller, well lighted, airy, and 
exceedingly comfortable. 

The advantages of this mode of travel by boat are 
numerous and obvious. It affords greater access to the 
people. The streams are the highways of business and 
the lines of transportation ; hence the large towns are 
nearly all on the river banks, and the most populous 
villages cluster around these towns. The boats carry 
us wherever we wish to go, land us where the people 
are most numerous, and place us in the very midst of 



Facilities for ReacJiing the People, 1 9 

those we are most anxious to reach. We are not hur- 
ried from point to point; but the boat being entirely at 
our disposal, we stay as long as desirable at each place, 
and make the best of every opportunity. 

This mode of travelling is, moreover, comparatively 
inexpensive. The boats cost from fifty cents to two 
dollars a day, according to their size and the number 
of the crew ; and it matters not whether one or half a 
dozen travel in the boat, or the baggage be much or 
little, the expense is the same. The experience of those 
who have travelled overland on foot, in chairs, or in 
carts, will attest the advantage of this method. When 
a separate conveyance is required for each traveller, 
and coolies for baggage and books, the daily expense is 
necessarily much greater than that of the boat. 

Another advantage is its great convenience. When 
the boat is engaged it comes to the nearest landing, 
where it receives whatever is deemed necessary for the 
comfort and convenience of the traveller. The boat be- 
comes our temporary home, and can be made almost as 
comfortable as a room in a house. Every arrangement 
for cooking, eating, and sleeping is complete. There is 
no worry over baggage ; we take as much or as little as 
we choose. It is put into the boat when we start, and 
remains there until we return. Books and tracts can be 
taken in quantities sufficient to meet the demands of 
the places visited. Books for our own reading and con- 
sultation, as many as we desire, may be taken, so that 
our ordinary or special lines of study need not be 
greatly interfered with. There is no occasion to trouble 
ourselves about securing lodgings along the way at the 



Facilities for Reaching the People. 2 i 

inns or in the houses of friends. The boat is our hotel 
for the time being, where we can not only be comfort- 
able ourselves, but where we can receive and entertain 
friends as well. We escape all the unpleasantness of 
too close contact with the unsavory crowds of natives ; 
are not wearied and harassed by daily bargaining with 
coolies and bearers ; are not sickened by unwholesome 
food, or afflicted by the many ills which frequenters of 
native places of entertainment are apt to fall heir to. 
The boat being usually engaged by the day, we go 
when and where we wish, stay a longer or shorter time 
at each place as may be desirable, and, having finished 
our work at one point, proceed to the next, using the 
interval, while the boat is moving, for rest and prepara- 
tion for further work. In the case of a physician, the 
boat may be made a travelling dispensary, and all the 
appliances for the efficient distribution of medicine and 
the performing of simple operations be secured. 

It is an additional recommendation of boat travel 
that it saves the strength of the missionary. Where the 
work can be done only by walking long distances or by 
travelling in chairs and carts, much fatigue and hardship 
are entailed, and the strength needed for the special 
work of preaching and instruction is in a great degree 
used up on the way. All this strength is saved by the 
boats, and is so much clear gain secured on the side of 
efficiency. After each day's work comes a season of 
rest and quiet, by which we are refreshed for the duties 
of the next day. This enables us to expend all our 
energies on the specific work we have to accomplish. 
The boat, moreover, affords facilities for the instruction 



2 2 The Cross and the Dragon. 

of native assistants and catechists by the way, or for 
special attention to inquirers who may have been awak- 
ened by something said during the day, and wish for 
some private conference which the pubHcity of the 
streets or the almost equally public character of the inns 
would preclude. It enables the missionary to receive 
calls from officials or from respectable people in the 
town who may wish to see him, as well as from the 
native Christians, in a manner agreeable to both parties. 
By affording daily opportunities for study and prepara- 
tion, it enables him to come before the people, both in 
his Christian and in his heathen audiences, with clearer 
and fresher thoughts, and adds greatly to his efficiency 
in every way. This economy of strength is a very 
important consideration, and there is no reason why a 
man should not come back from a tour of active work 
in the interior as fresh as w^hen he started, and be able 
to settle down to his work in the city without the loss 
of a day. This mode of travel, too, is the safest that 
can be adopted. It exposes one to less danger from 
contagious diseases, which are often very prevalent, and 
from attacks of robbers, than one would meet in over- 
land travel. The boat is a kind of fortress, and is 
usually provided with guns and ammunition ; and being 
the property of the crew, they are ready to defend it 
against any attack. The rivers in many places are in- 
fested by pirates ; but these roving gentry are usually 
very prudent, and rarely make an attack unless they are 
sure of plunder. As the missionary never has much 
that is of value to them, or only what would be a help 
in tracing the thief if he did steal it, he is seldom, if 



Facilities for Reaching the People. 2 3 

ever, molested. Attacks by day are very rare occur- 
rences under any circumstances, and there is but little 
travelling by night. In the evening the boatmen usually 
pull up alongside one of the guard-boats, which are 
stationed at intervals of a few miles along the principal 
streams, and anchor under its sheltering wings. The 
only real danger in travelling is from exposure to the 
sun in the summer and from malaria in the low country. 
The former can be avoided by care, and the latter les- 
sened, if not entirely escaped, by shortening the trip in 
such places. As most of the low-lying country is in 
close proximity to Canton, short tours of a week or ten 
days can accomplish much, with but little exposure to 
malaria. In the uplands, where the water is clear and 
constantly running, there is no danger from this cause ; 
while a few weeks of such travel in the pure air of the 
country, stirred by breezes from the hills and moun- 
tains blowing across the water, is a great relief after 
months spent in the pent-up, humid atmosphere of 
Canton. As we ascend the river, east, north, and west, 
we pass in many places through scenes of wondrous 
beauty, — groups of picturesque mountains like Loh-fow 
to the east and Teng-00 to the west, with their forests, 
and gorges, and waterfalls, their sylvan grottos, tree- 
embowered shrines, and wealth of ferns and flowers ; 
rivers like the Lien-Chow, that flow through moun- 
tainous districts, over rapids, through narrow passes, 
with a succession of varied scenes of rarest attraction. 
For the exquisite charm of its river scenery, the variety 
and grandeur of its highland borders, the number and 
extent of its river and mountain passes, the country of 



24 The Cross and the Dragon, 

the Two Kwongs is entitled to a prominent place in 
Nature's album of the picturesque and beautiful. 

In connection with all the facilities for travel that place 
the country far and near within our reach, the most im- 
portant point is the reception we receive from the peo- 
ple and the practical means open to us to interest and 
instruct them in the great truths of our rehgion. This 
wonderful system of rivers by which so great an extent 
of the country is veined and by which every part of 
the land is made accessible, and all the unusually con- 
venient and comfortable means of travel afforded by the 
boats that take us in any direction, would be of little 
avail for the great purposes we have in view if we could 
not reach the people themselves. To have our plans 
fall short of their practical accomplishment in this re- 
spect would be to fail utterly in our undertaking. What, 
then, is the attitude of the people toward the missionary 
as he travels through their country? Are they friendly, 
hostile, or indifferent? The answer to these questions 
would differ greatly when made with respect to different 
sections of the country; yet in general it would appear 
that they are friendly, though often rude and uncivil in 
their language. They come out in great numbers to 
see and hear the missionary, drawn chiefly by curiosity, 
it is true, but ready to listen to what he has to say, and 
affording him every facility for supplying them with 
books and preaching as long as his vocal powers will 
hold out. Throughout nearly the whole extent of the 
country no bar or obstacle is placed in the way of our 
entrance into any town or village ; and the moment our 
approach is heralded by the boys, who are always on 



Facilities for Reaching the People, 25 

the alert for something to turn up, the people come out 
in crowds, men, women, and children pressing eagerly 
around us, giving us the very opportunity we seek of 
telHng them plainly the object of our visit and of deliv- 
ering the message we are sent to proclaim. In some 
places the advent of the missionary is hailed with most 
cordial acclamations ; he is treated with respect, enter- 
tained with politeness, accommodations being offered 
him if he will remain in the town. But such experiences 
are not general. It is only on rare occasions, however, 
that he is unable to find interested and attentive 
audiences when he wishes to preach. 

The way in which the people live in towns and vil- 
lages adds greatly to the facility in reaching them. In 
the country there are no isolated farmhouses. All the 
people are packed together in villages, where the houses 
are built as closely together as possible, the only divi- 
sions being narrow lanes that lead between the compact 
rows of buildings. The people go out to the fields in 
the morning and return to the village in the evening, 
and a well-timed visit near the close of the day will ena- 
ble one to meet nearly the whole population at one time. 
Nearly every village has a grove of trees behind it, add- 
ing greatly to the beauty and healthiness of the place. 
In front there is a pond, sometimes several, where 
fish are reared and the oxen bathe on their return 
from the fields. Around the outer edge of the pond 
is a high embankment, not infrequently a wall, and 
along the inner side is another wall, with frequent open- 
ings for steps to lead down to the water, where the 
village dames and maidens come to wash their clothes 



26 The Cross and the Dragon. 

and draw water for use in the houses. Within this inner 
wall is an open space from fifty to one hundred feet 
wide, on which the ancestral halls and temples front. 
The narrow lanes all lead down to this court, and the 
entrance to it from the outside is through gates at either 
end, with towers rising above them. In many places 
fine trees stand near the village gate, and afford a cool 
-and pleasant place to rest and chat after the day's work. 
On the arrival of the missionary the people gather 
thickly in the open spaces or under the trees, the whole 
population often turning out. There will be the well- 
dressed student, the teachers of the village schools, 
some haughty representatives of the families of the gen- 
try, and the toilworn laborers, women, old and young, 
children of all sizes and in all sorts of costumes, all 
anxious to see the stranger and hear what he has to say. 
The most favorable time to visit in villages is just after 
the harvest has been gathered in, when the people are 
more at leisure, and larger numbers of them can be 
reached. 

The arrangement of market towns is another great 
means of facilitating the work of reaching the people. 
Very few of the villages have stores or shops of any 
importance. The sale of their produce and manufac- 
tures, and a general interchange of commodities, is 
effected by means of markets established at short inter- 
vals over the country. These market towns are usually 
the centres of small coteries of villages which unite in a 
public organization. The town-hall for the transaction 
of public business, free schools if there are any, and the 
pawn-shops for the deposit of money and valuables, are 



Facilities for Reaching the People. 2 7 

situated in the market town. There arc thousands of 
these towns scattered all over the country. They hold 
fairs or general markets at stated times, occurring twice 
or three times in every ten days as may be arranged. 
On these occasions the people from the surrounding 
country gather in, to buy and sell to the number of 
thousands, and occasionally tens of thousands. At such 
times the missionary finds a large proportion of the 
population of the whole country side gathered before 
him ; and seeking out a convenient place on the steps of 
a temple, before some pubHc building, or under the 
pleasant shade of a spreading banyan-tree, — or, as not 
infrequently happens, accepting an invitation to occupy 
the public hall, — he can preach to them for any length of 
time. Many of the people come from distant and out- 
of-the-way places, from little hamlets far away among 
the mountains, it may be, which would be difficult to 
reach in the ordinary course of travel ; but some words 
remembered, or some books purchased, carry the pre- 
cious message to these remote corners of the land. 
Moreover the neighboring market towns arrange their 
fair-days so as not to interfere with each other, thus 
enabling one on each successive day to find a fresh 
assemblage of people, until the circuit of these towns 
in that particular district is made. 

After these market-places come the large towns and 
cities, in some of which fairs are held at stated times, 
but in which the daily concourse of people is always 
great. In these busy and populous centres of trade one 
can always find large audiences that listen readily to the 
truth. Numerous open spaces in front of public build- 



28 The Cross and the Dragon, 

ings or on the river banks afford ample room in which 
to gather the people for instruction. After these open- 
air services comes a series of tours through the streets 
with books, not only along the business streets, but 
also through the less frequented ones, where the families 
reside. The news of our approach is rapidly carried 
ahead, and in almost every doorway stands an expect- 
ant group, anxious to get a nearer view of the stranger, 
and if they can read, to buy some of his books. Many 
strange scenes and amusing episodes transpire as the 
missionary penetrates the interior among the abodes of 
the people. Before the door of some well-built house, 
as he approaches, will be seen a group of girls and 
women with their painted cheeks and pencilled eye- 
brows, their hair stiff and smooth in teapot-shaped 
coiffure, their tiny feet in gayly embroidered shoes 
tipped with beads or pearls, crowding the narrow door- 
way, and shading their eyes with their hands as they 
peer timidly down the street to catch a glimpse of the 
stranger. As he draws near, some one will say, '' Be- 
ware ! He is looking at you ! " when they retreat in 
great fear and confusion. Curiosity, however, usually 
gets the better of their fears, and they soon reappear. 
Sometimes the missionary is mistaken for an itinerant 
trader, and besieged with questions as to the nature and 
price of his wares. With the vague impression that all 
people from Western lands are skilled in medicine, he is 
asked to act as physician to the whole community. His 
costume and whole appearance are a matter of curious 
interest ; and frequently the request is made, in a depre- 
cating way, that the master would be so kind and obli- 



Facilities for Reaching the People, 29 

ging as to remove his hat, that they may see his head 
and hair. CompHance with this request is often followed 
by a shout of laughter and derision, that he appears 
with unshaved head, unornamented by a queue. The 
absence of the universal appendage is as strange to 
them as its presence to people of other lands ; and as 
the traveller proceeds down the street he will be pre- 
ceded and followed by crowds of boys, shouting as 
they go, " He has no queue ! He has no queue ! A 
foreign devil, and no mistake ! " Among these groups 
of men in the shops, and of women and children at 
the doors of the houses, are often found some who 
show a real interest in the object of our visit. Not 
infrequently we are invited into some of the shops to 
drink tea with the people and engage in social inter- 
course; and occasionally such invitations come from 
private houses, where the host himself is interested in 
learning something of Christianity, or wishes to show 
his polite consideration for the stranger. As mentioned 
before, our reception varies greatly in different places. 
I have been in many places where the people, who were 
perfectly friendly, gathered in such dense crowds, and 
pressed upon me so eagerly for books, as greatl>r to 
interfere with the work of supplying them, and who 
kept up such an incessant fire of questions that preach- 
ing was impossible. This excess of friendly and curi- 
ous interest is much to be preferred to the opposite 
extreme, which is sometimes met with. In the poorer 
districts, where the people are more simple and docile, 
our reception is usually more cordial ; while in the richer 
and more populous sections the people are often haughty 



30 The Cross and the Dragon, 

and insolent. Those who live near Canton are as a rule 
less friendly than those who live at a greater distance 
inland. 

A careful consideration of the facts presented in the 
experience and observation of those who have traversed 
the land, only confirm the statement that the whole coun- 
try is fully open to mission work; that the people in 
every part are accessible to the missionary ; and that no 
obstacles worthy of consideration stand in the way of the 
frequent and thorough visitation of near and remote 
districts. 



Some Characteristics of the People. 31 



CHAPTER III. 

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 

THE love of antiquity is inborn in the Chinese, they 
Hve in the past ; and although Canton and its de- 
pendencies are comparatively recent additions to the 
Empire, having become Chinese territory only two 
thousand years ago, yet the people of the Broad East 
and the Broad West (Canton and Kwong-Si) trace 
their lineage back beyond the time of the great mi- 
grations to the south, and point to the homes of their 
remote ancestors in the northern provinces, which are 
honored as the scenes of those historic events in the 
distant past, in comparison with which modern times 
have nothing worthy of record. If there ever were a 
people justifiable in such worshipful regard for the past, 
the Chinese are that people. For two thousand five 
hundred years their historical records are unbroken ; 
and if we can trust their sacred books, for two thousand 
years previous to that period their national life had con- 
tinued, running back to the misty dawn of the race. 
They were a people before Abraham was called ; their 
early history is contemporaneous with that of the ancient 
Egyptians. Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, each 
in its turn rose, flourished, and fell ; but China continued, 
her national identity preserved intact through all the 



32 The Cross and the Dragon, 

wars and revolutions that deluged the Middle Kingdom 
with blood and hurled dynasties into the dust. The 
great nations of Europe and America are but infants of 
a day compared with the hoary centuries through which 
China has passed. The political system of the Chinese, 
their moral code, their standard books of philosophy and 
literature, have come down to them for twenty centuries 
or more. To them the past is not a mass of musty re- 
cords filled with the suffocating odors of decay, as it 
appears often to us, but a rich treasure-house fragrant 
with the aroma of purest wisdom and noblest example. 

Growing out of this intense love and reverence for 
the past, we find an ultra-conservatism. The ruling 
classes, the officials and gentry, the custodians of these 
treasures of the past, are opposed to innovations and 
reforms of every kind. They are exclusive to the ex- 
tremest degree, and would never have had intercourse 
with other nations had they not been compelled to do 
so ; and to-day most of them would be only too glad to 
shut their doors, exclude every foreigner, and retire into 
their shell again for the rest of time. Conservatism has 
been carried to such an extreme that the whole nation 
has become fossilized. As long as the gentry, or literati, 
retain the power they now possess, just so long will this 
ultra-conservatism exist. It will not be until the spread 
of enlightened ideas — which is going on in spite of their 
efforts to prevent it — brings about some revolution in 
thought or in the wider sphere of social and national 
life that will wrest this power from the hands of this 
self-constituted oligarchy, that this fossilized crust will 
be broken through. 



Some Characteristics of the People, 33 

Closely connected with this spirit of exclusiveness, is 
an overweening pride and absurd conceit in their own 
superiority, and an unreasoning hatred of everything 
foreign. It is enough to say that a thing is not Chinese, 
especially in matters of ethics and religion, to stamp it 
with disapproval. They call themselves the men of the 
" Middle Kingdom," and believe their land to be not 
merely the geographical centre of the earth, but the 
central fountain of knowledge and civilization, and re- 
gard all outside as savages, barbarians, or, worse still, as 
devils. This exclusiveness in the past seems to have 
taken the form of haughty indifference or scornful dis- 
dain for people outside their own borders, leading them 
to despise them as rude and uncivilized and in every 
way inferior. Intercourse with the aggressive nations 
of the West has developed this indifference into active 
hostility, and made hatred of foreigners a prominent 
characteristic of the influential classes, and, to a great 
degree, of all classes. This feeling was fostered and in- 
tensified by the high-handed treatment China received 
in the early days of her intercourse with Western nations, 
and was especially deepened by the forcible imposition 
of the opium trafific, in spite of the strongest protesta- 
tions of the Emperor and high officials, and the general 
sentiment of the people. Canton, as the scene of these 
early strifes, shows more plainly the bitterness of this 
feeling. Wherever we go through the country we are 
greeted as " foreign devils ; " and the use of this term has 
become so prevalent that many seem to know no other, 
and, when rebuked for addressing one in such insulting 
language, will reply, " What then shall I call you?" 

3 



34 The Cross and the Dragon. 

The greatest hostility is met with among the people 
of the great prefecture of Kwong-Chow, which covers 
the whole delta, and an equally extensive country to the 
north and west. These people are the most numerous, 
the most wealthy, and the most influential in the prov- 
ince, and at the same time most strongly imbued with 
anti-foreign prejudices. They have many admirable 
qualities. Their intelligence and industry, their business 
capacity and spirit of enterprise, and their aggressive in- 
fluence command our respect. They hold not merely the 
business of their native towns, but the business of the 
whole province, in their hands. Throughout the whole 
country the men from these lower districts control the 
trade and manage things to suit themselves; and in 
other provinces the men who carry on what is known as 
the Canton trade are men from the districts immedi- 
ately around that city. They are, however, not only 
anti-Christian, but intensely anti-foreign. Wherever 
they go in the interior portions of the province they 
prejudice the people against us, and often excite dis- 
turbances where all would otherwise be quiet and pros- 
perous. They are intensely proud and self-conceited, 
and treat not only foreigners, but people from less 
favored districts of their own country, with great scorn. 
They are, without doubt, the most difficult of all the 
people to impress or influence favorably ; but when they 
are converted, as we hope will happen at no very dis- 
tant day, and their powers are once turned in the right 
direction, they will become the most energetic and en- 
terprising of all our Christian adherents. While in their 
present attitude of hostility, they offer but few encour- 



Some Characteristics of the People. 35 

agements to labor among them ; yet to the enthusias- 
tic missionary, who never doubts the final prevalence 
of the Gospel, the wonderful possibilities that appear 
when they shall be converted to the truth, makes that 
particular portion of the country a most inviting field. 
Their superior business capacities have been recognized 
in many ways. They have made themselves indispen- 
sable to the European and American merchants, the 
compradore, or Chinese head of affairs, being a neces- 
sary assistant in all business transactions with the na- 
tives. Their position as go-betweens places much power 
in their hands, which they use in a quiet way for their 
own advantage, being seldom so imprudent as to com- 
promise themselves or put themselves at the mercy of 
their employers. In Canton and Hong-Kong scores 
of these compradores, fat, sleek, well dressed in rich 
brocades, with an air of supreme self-contentment and 
prosperity, may be seen around the banks and business 
houses, or strolling along the streets. The Cantonese 
have almost a monopoly of these lucrative positions, 
not only in the South, but in the ports of Middle and 
North China, and Japan as well. Their shrewdness and 
enterprise not only command our respect, but show a 
solidity of character at the bottom that is promising 
material to work upon. 

The enterprise of another section of the people of 
South China is shown in quite another direction. They 
have developed a migratory disposition quite out of 
keeping with the traditional fixedness of their race; and 
from this province hundreds of thousands have gone to 
the coast lands along the southeast extremity of Asia. 



36 The Cross and the Dragon. 

They have overrun Siam until nearly the whole business 
of that country is in their hands, penetrating into the 
distant and malarious districts of the Laos kingdom to 
the north. They have gone in large numbers to Bur- 
mah ; and in every English, French, Spanish, and Portu- 
guese colony in the Far East they form the great bulk 
of the population. They are peopling Borneo and all 
the islands of the great East-Indian Archipelago, and 
seem destined to supplant the original inhabitants of 
the Sandwich Islands. All the Chinese in Australia 
and the United States are from the province of Canton. 
They still carry their exclusive spirit with them wher- 
ever they go, and keep themselves apart from others 
to a great degree. Their peculiar training prevents 
them from seeing the superiority of other peoples, and 
appreciating the advantages of Western learning and 
improvements. When the evident superiority of any- 
thing is forced upon their attention, they fall back upon 
the hopeless theory that what is good for America or 
some other country would not do for China. The final 
result of this constant intercourse with other nations, 
and of the increasingly large number who receive Chris- 
tian knowledge and become generally enlightened, must 
tend toward a reaction against the old and stereotyped 
beliefs and customs. The general industry and fru- 
gality of the people in their own land are strikingly ex- 
hibited on every hand. As we pass through the narrow 
streets of the cities every one seems to be busy. The 
rush of coolies with their burdens, the whir of the jade- 
cutting wheels, the din of the brass-pounders, the clang 
of the forge, the clatter of the silk-loom worked by 



Some Characteristics of the People, 37 



hand, the monotonous thud of the gold-beater's ham- 
mer, the patient stitching of the embroiderers, under 
whose skilful fingers grow patterns of wondrous beauty, 
the markets with hurrying throngs, bringing in fruit, 
vegetables, and fish, and the thousand other employ- 
ments carried on in shops opening full on the street, 
impress one strongly with the fact that every one has 
work to do, and is busy in its performance. The vast 
grain fields, the extensive fruit orchards and vegetable 
gardens, give employment to myriads, and the multi- 
form industries growing out of the needs of the mil- 
lions of people furnish work in all the trades. The 
useful predominates over the ornamental, and economy 
is a vital, every-day question with the vast multitude. 
Their wants are few and simple, but the question of 
supplying them is often a most anxious one. The 
wages of a working man vary from three to six dollars 
a month ; his necessary food costs him about one dollar 
and a half; and as nearly all have families or relatives 
dependent upon them, the struggle to make both ends 
meet and find enough for all involves the strictest fru- 
gality of living. Rice is the chief article of diet, to 
which is added pork, salt fish, or vegetables, in quantities 
such as they can afford. In some districts sweet potatoes 
are largely used, but they are considered poor man's 
food, and a man is considered far down in the scale of 
poverty who can afford nothing better than sweet pota- 
toes. Their clothing, all made after one general pattern, 
is usually of strong coarse cloth that wears well. 

In the country men and women unite in the culti- 
vation of the fields ; and the exposure they undergo in 



38 The Cross and the Dragon, 

the marshy rice-lands, which must be spaded or ploughed 
in the chilly days of early spring, often produces severe 
attacks of rheumatism. It is painful to see them, women 
especially, knee-deep in mud and water, spading the 
heavy soil of the paddy-fields, while in a wretched Httle 
boat drawn up by the slimy bank are two or three little 
half-clothed children and a small supply of the coarsest 
food, with the rudest implements for cooking. The 
working people usually have three meals a day, but 
often they will work from early dawn until night with 
only a bowl of cold rice-gruel at noon to sustain them. 
The shop people and students have but two regular 
meals a day, taking breakfast about ten o'clock and 
supper between five and six. The men all sit around a 
common table with one large dish or tub of rice in the 
centre, from which their bowls are replenished, and dishes 
of meat and vegetables around it, from which they help 
themselves promiscuously with their chop-sticks. For 
the host, when guests are present, to take a morsel from 
the com.mon dish with his own chop-sticks, and put it 
into his guest's mouth, is an act of great hospitality. 
Their skill in the use of these simple implements is 
marvellous. On one occasion I was the guest of a 
Taoist priest, and our lunch consisted simply of a bowl 
of vermicelli fried in some way, to be eaten with chop- 
sticks. My host excited my admiration by the clever 
way he would convey each morsel to his mouth without 
dropping the least fragment ; while all my efforts only 
resulted in strewing the table with the contents of my 
bowl, but a small portion reaching its destination. 
The stature of the Chinese is, as a rule, shorter than 



Some Characteristics of the People. 39 

that of the Anglo-Saxon, and many of them seem weak 
and puny specimens of humanity ; but among the cooHe 
class are found some wonderful specimens of physical 
vigor. I have frequently been amazed at the powers 
of endurance displayed. Having, on a certain day, 
arranged to visit a station thirty miles north of Canton, 
and being anxious to reach the place as soon as pos- 
sible, I engaged a sedan chair with three coolies to be 
in readiness at six o'clock in the morning. We started 
at the appointed hour, and after going five miles, the 
men informed me that they had not yet had their break- 
fast. I told them they could stop and take it then at 
the eating-place near by. They said they would if I 
would pay for it. As the stipulation was that the price 
paid for the hire of the chair included everything, I 
declined. After going another five miles I urged them 
to stop and eat, fearing they would be ill. They said, 
no, they would wait until they returned to Canton, where 
they would be provided with food at the shop without 
expense to themselves, the cost of breakfast for each 
being about five cents. I said no more, but was anx- 
ious to see the result. They proceeded to a town twenty- 
three miles from Canton, reaching it after five hours' 
travel, and there engaging a relief, left me and returned 
to the city to get their breakfast, all for the sake of sav- 
ing five cents. It was a revelation to me that men could 
voluntarily travel forty-six miles before breakfast, bear- 
ing a heavy load most of the time. On my return from 
the station then visited, I met with a still more striking 
example. Taking passage on the boat down the river, 
I found two chair coolies who had that morning carried 



40 The Cross and the Dragon, 

a Chinaman from Canton to a town thirty-five miles 
distant and were now returning by the passage-boat. 
It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and they had had 
nothing to eat since six o'clock in the morning. Their 
fare on the boat, which was nine cents for forty miles, 
had been paid for them, but did not include supper. 
Two large bowls of rice could be had for three cents ; 
they declined, however, on the ground of expense. 
The boat was due in Canton at daylight next morning, 
but unfortunately ran aground fifteen miles above Can- 
ton, so that we did not reach the city until two o'clock 
in the afternoon. In the morning, when a long delay 
was apparent, these men offered to carry me those 
fifteen miles into the city, and would have done so had 
not my baggage prevented. It seemed incredible that 
having gone twenty-seven hours without food, and hav- 
ing carried a heavy burden thirty-five miles in the 
mean time, they should still have strength enough to 
bear a man fifteen miles further. 

There is no caste in China such as exists in India. 
The people, as a whole, are homogeneous, not merely in 
the sense of being one race, but as to their rights and 
privileges. The highest positions are open to aspirants 
from all classes ; and instances are given of men rising 
from the lowest walks of life to fill the highest offices in 
the land. Their life is somewhat on the plan of the old 
patriarchal system. They live in clans, and the family 
lines are very distinctly drawn. These families, as they 
now exist about Canton, were founded ages ago by the 
earlier settlers, who in their turn referred their origin 
back to the older homes in the north. Of the original 



Some Characteristics of the People. 41 

families, of which records are kept, that settled south 
of the Ridge, many have been divided, their different 
branches moving into widely separated districts, but all 
look back to the first seat of the family as the old ances- 
tral home. I have frequently asked men whom I have 
met in the city where their home was ; and they would 
refer me to some distant village in the country; but it 
would soon transpire that neither they nor, perhaps, 
their fathers had ever been to the place mentioned. 
That was, however, the original seat of the clan, and 
consequently their home. These clans hold closely 
together in all political and local matters, and feuds are 
often generated between rival clans that develop into 
open hostility. Clan fights are frequent episodes in 
Chinese life. Only a short time ago I passed through 
a district where a feud of long standing had broken out 
into open war. The braves of each clan had formed 
themselves into small armies, and had performed several 
feats of war before the magistrate could bring matters to 
a peaceful conclusion. No less than eighteen had been 
killed. When the number of the dead on each side was 
counted, it was found that one clan had lost two more 
than the other ; but matters were equalized by the pay- 
ment of two hundred dollars' indemnity for these two 
lives. Peace being restored, the magistrate prudently 
let matters rest, not daring to call the people to account 
lest the two hostile clans should unite against him. 

It is not unusual to find villages where only one clan 
is represented, such being the fact in regard to the 
native place of one of our ordained ministers, in whose 
town there are three thousand males of the surname 



42 The Cross and the Dragon. 

Lai, but none of any other name. In another place, 
Liu-p6, where we have a station, there are ten thousand 
males of the surname Wan. 

Each family has an organization that centres in the 
ancestral hall, where the tablets of the deceased fathers 
are placed. A reunion is held at least once a year, 
about Easter, which is the time for worshipping the 
tombs, when among other things roast pork is divided 
among the members *as a recognition of their standing. 
The threat to deprive a man of his piece of pork means 
that he will be expelled from the clan. At this time 
arrangements are made for repairing the graves and 
offering the annual sacrifices at the tombs. In connec- 
tion with the ancestral hall there is usually a fund for 
the establishment of schools, and also for the assistance 
of students ; and when a man has taken a literary degree 
he receives a regular pension which is increased as he 
rises higher in his course of literary honor. As the 
branches of the family increase, a distinction naturally 
grows up: some become poor, others prosper, and 
usually the control of affairs falls into the hands of the 
prosperous. A portion of the family are always farmers 
and till the ancestral estates; some go into business; 
but it is 'the desire of every separate family of the clan, 
however poor, to educate at least one son, who, though 
he may not take a degree, or become an official, may at 
least become a teacher and be the man of letters for the 
house. Whole villages, however, are met with wdiere 
not one in a hundred can write or read intelligently. 

This system of clans is at present an obstacle to the 
spread of Christianity. Large bodies move slowly, and 



Some CJiaracteristics of the People, 43 

the time has not yet come when the Chinese are con- 
verted by famihes. It is a very serious thing for a 
man to face a whole hostile clan with the confession 
that he has forsaken the religion of his fathers, and can 
no longer pay homage at the tombs and ancestral 
shrines. Expulsion is the frequent result; and not only 
that, but violent treatment for bringing disgrace, as they 
consider it, upon the clan often follows. In the future, 
however, this system will be a great help, for the ten- 
dency will then be to come by families and clans. 

The management of the village affairs is usually 
intrusted to a few men, who by wealth or literary dis- 
tinction have obtained prominence. They are known as 
the gentry, or Shan-Kam, and it is only through their 
mediation that the obscurer members of the clan can 
bring their suits before the officials or receive redress 
of injuries. The patriarchal thus runs into the feudal 
system. And in many large country districts the com- 
munity, through the heads of the clans, is practically 
self-governing, being in a position to defy interference 
or dictate terms to the magistrates. This is one of the 
secrets of the permanence of Chinese institutions. What- 
ever changes take place in the outward government the 
mass of the people are ruled in the same way by their 
gentry from one generation to another. 

It is also a principle of Chinese law to hold the rela- 
tives of a criminal in some degree responsible for his 
crime, so that the whole family is concerned in the con- 
duct of its individual members. A case recently oc- 
curred to the east of Canton, revealing this among other 
remarkable facts. A man in a fit of insanity killed his 



44 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



mother. He imagined he saw a mad dog rush into the 
house and, snatching up a hatchet, struck it dead. It 
was his mother. He was arrested ; all his property was 




A GENTLEMAN AND SON. 



confiscated, and his family reduced to beggary. After 
his trial he was executed by the slicing process, that is, 
by twelve strokes of the knife, the last taking off the 
head. Not only was his own immediate family involved 



Some Characteristics of the People. 45 

in the disaster, but the teacher who first instructed him 
was so keenly affected by the blight it brought upon his 
name that he committed suicide by taking opium, the 
theory being that he must have given an evil bent to 
the young mind intrusted to his care. When the man 
was tried the first question put to him by the magistrate 
was, '' What injury did I ever inflict on you in a former 
life, that you should bring this disgrace on me now?" 
he too being involved, and the law holding him so far 
responsible for the crime committed within his jurisdic- 
tion, that he was degraded from office and sent to a 
lower post in another district. 

Chinese family life is not such as to promote domestic 
comfort or improve the social side of men. Its one 
redeeming feature is the respect shown to the aged, but 
this is carried to such an absurd extreme, and magnified 
to such a degree, that all other duties are overshadowed. 
The soundness of the principle that the younger should 
revere the elder we are not prepared to question, but ask 
that it be supplemented by that other equally important 
principle, that the elder should watch over and guard 
the younger, especially in the time of helpless infancy. 
Not only are children required to yield filial obedience 
to their parents, but younger brothers are to a large 
degree amenable to the elder. The distinction of older 
and younger, not in age merely, but in authority, is car- 
ried out minutely through all degrees of relationship. 
Among brothers and sisters the older and younger are 
designated by different terms : " Ah-Koh," meaning the 
first or head one, is the appellation for elder brother, 
and " Sai-16," " the little one," the general name for the 



46 The Cross and the Dragon. 

younger. Uncles, aunts, and cousins are divided in the 
same way, and, as an additional distinction, those on the 
father's side have an entirely different set of designa- 
tions from those on the mother's side. The father's 
older brother is called Ah-Shuk, uncle, and his younger 
brother is called Ah-Pak, also uncle, but of a differ- 
ent grade, and these distinctions are not in name only, 
but indicate the degree of authority each is entitled to 
exercise. In the matter of betrothal and marriage, the 
parents decide and make all arrangements, often without 
the knowledge of the persons most intimately con- 
cerned ; and it not unfrequently happens that the youth- 
ful couple never see each other's faces until the day on 
which their marriage is consummated. If by any chance 
they had been previously acquainted, the rules of pro- 
priety would require that after the betrothal they should 
strictly abstain from the sight of one another; and if 
this can be accomplished in no other way, one or the 
other is sent away on a visit to friends or to school, 
until the time for marriage comes. I have known young 
girls in the Boarding-School whose friends have sent for 
them ostensibly to make a short visit to their homes, 
but who on their arrival found to their consternation 
that they were to be married, this being the first hint 
they had received of so importan:; a matter. There are 
exceptions, however, to this rule. When, for instance, 
the mother of the betrothed girl is a widow, her prospec- 
tive son-in-law may have access to her house, and assist 
her in her affairs, rendering her the service of a son before 
marriage. After marriage the wife becomes an inmate 
of the husband's family, subject to his mother, to whom 



Some Characteristics of the People. 47 

she becomes almost a slave in the service required, and 
if her mother-in-law be exacting her life is anything but 
a happy or an easy one. On first repairing to the hus- 
band's house she unites with him in worshipping the 
tablets of his ancestors. This seems to seal her as a 
member of his family; and in the event of his death she 
is not free to return to her own family, but remains 
under the control of his parents, or, if they be dead, of 
his uncles or elder brothers. The men have practically 
no mothers-in-law, marriage not bringing them into 
very close relations to their brides' families. Persons 
of the same surname are not permitted to marry, even 
though separated by forty generations. The separation 
of men and women is a permanent barrier to all true 
social intercourse. Where circumstances permit, the 
women are secluded. In the houses of the wealthier 
people they have their own apartments into which the 
men may not enter. Here they spend their time, often 
in listless idleness, or, if inclined to exertion, in superin- 
tending the details of household work; in sewing or 
embroidering, at which many of them are exceedingly 
skilful ; in making dainty little shoes for their pinched- 
up feet; in dressing their hair and beautifying their 
countenances, or in cultivating long finger-nails, which 
they are careful to protect by silver sheaths at night. 
Much of their time is spent in gossip of the most insipid 
sort. Little slave girls attend them, bringing in pipes — 
for many of the fair ones smoke — and dishes of dried 
watermelon-seeds, with cups of savory tea. The eating 
of watermelon-seeds while they gossip is one of the 
great pastimes of Chinese ladies. What hours have 



48 The Cross and the Dragon. 

been consumed in this absurd way it would be difficult 
to compute ; but the wearing away and premature decay 
of two particular teeth on the right side of the mouth, 
so frequently observed, shows how constantly they have 
been employed for this purpose. Few of them can 
read, so that their ideas are almost as narrow as the 
confines of their own apartments. The practice of po- 
lygamy prevails among those who can afford it, but the 
first wife holds a position far above any of the subse- 
quent ones. Among the poorer classes many of these 
restrictions are necessarily removed. Their houses often 
contain but one or two rooms, but the separation of the 
sexes is as rigidly maintained as circumstances will per- 
mit. When a man receives calls from his most intimate 
friends, his wife and daughters never appear; they may 
be behind the curtains listening, but remain invisible. 
When a gentleman invites his friends to dine with him, 
he hires a room in some eating-house, or engages a boat 
on the river, where the feast is spread ; but such a thing 
as a party where ladies and gentlemen sit down together 
would shock their sense of propriety beyond recovery. 
Their absurdly strict and stilted rules of propriety breed 
an artificial prudery, deprive the men of what they most 
need, the refining influence of good female society, and 
promote the very thing they are supposed to prevent. 
The whole system is based upon a low and utterly un- 
worthy estimate of woman. She is regarded as weak 
and erring, and must be hedged in by these restrictions 
lest she bring dishonor upon the family. The bare sug- 
gestion of such possibilities is an insult to true woman- 
hood; and the very fact of such restrictions leads to an 



Some Characteristics of the People, 49 

inquiry into their cause, and tends to awaken thoughts 
that should never be aroused. The crucial test of any 
religion or civilization is found in its estimate of and 
treatment of woman; and, judged by the high standard 
with which we are familiar, China, both socially and 
religiously, falls wofuUy short of the mark. 




POOR PEOPLE. 



The custom of foot-binding prevails throughout Can- 
ton, as elsewhere. As soon as a child learns to walk 
firmly, the bandages are applied and the little feet 
crushed into the smallest compass. The custom is of 
long standing and is almost universal. Its cruelty, the 
state of helplessness to which it often reduces them, 
the disease it is liable to bring, are not reasons strong 
enough to deter them. Various reasons are given to 
uphold it. Some admire it: they say, "Girls are like 

4 



50 The Cross and the Dragon. 

willows, and should walk with a graceful, swaying move- 
ment; they are like flowers poised upon slender stems; 
their mincing gait is a passport of respectability." It 
is urged that no one of good family wishes to marry a 
girl with large feet ; and if after marriage the size of her 
feet is suspicious, she becomes the laughing-stock of 
her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, and leads a sad, 
weary hfe. On the other hand, small feet secure a life 
of ease. The woman with large feet has to work and 
go out in all sorts of weather, while the one with the 
" golden lilies " sits at ease, or rides in her sedan chair. 
Parents are often covetous ; and thinking that small 
feet are pleasing and command a higher price in the 
matrimonial market, make merchandise of their daugh- 
ters. The evils of this practice are so obvious that one 
wonders at its continuance. Besides the pain and de- 
formity, it renders them so helpless ; and many who, 
in their striving for respectability or ambitious for high 
connections, have bound their daughters' feet, have been 
sorely disappointed of their hopes, and the victims of 
their cruelty have been condemned to a life of poverty 
and toil, the hardship of which is greatly increased by 
their helpless condition. I have seen many a poor 
ragged woman with the smallest of bound feet, gathering 
brushwood for a living ; and having to carry her burdens 
for miles, she would stagger and stumble painfully, on 
account of her deformity. The custom, however, has 
such a hold that even the Emperor is powerless to 
abolish it, and, absurd as it may seem, any persistent 
attempt on the part of the Government to interfere with 
the practice would probably lead to rebellion. 



Some Characteristics of the People. 51 

Slavery in various forms exists among the people of 
South China. A man has almost absolute control over 
his family, and may under necessity sell any member of 
it. It sometimes happens that a man in debt will mort- 
gage himself and his posterity for several generations 
to his creditors. The most common form of domestic 
slavery is that in which young girls are purchased as 
servants in families. In many well-to-do families each 
daughter will have a slave girl to wait upon her, but 
usually one little thing will .become the household 
drudge for a whole family, having to carry children 
almost as large as herself on her back, run on the in- 
numerable errands, and care for the house. Girls are 
sometimes bought at an early age by poor people and 
brought up as wives for their sons. It is difficult to go be- 
hind the scenes and know what kind of lives these little 
creatures lead ; but instances have come to light to show 
that, as a rule, their lives are not only one constant round 
of toil and hardship, but often of the direst cruelty, being 
treated in the most shameful and heartless manner, with- 
out any apparent motive save the pure love of giving pain. 

The houses in which the people live are all after one 
general plan, the only difference between the rich and 
poor being in the size, material, and ornamentation. 
There are usually no windows in the front, only a door 
set in the middle, opening on a short hall-way, with 
small rooms on either side, that leads into a court open 
to the sky. In the better class of houses this court 
is paved with brick, and is adorned with flowers set in 
pots, and large jars for gold-fish. Beyond this is the 
main reception room, with straight-back chairs, made, 



52 The Cross and the Dragon. 

it may be, of the finest ebony inlaid with pearl, and 
furnished with marble seats and backs. Between the 
chairs, placed stiffly against the wall, are small tables, on 
which tea is placed for the guests. At the farther end 
of the room is the couch of state, often a magnificent 
affair, glittering with inlaid pearl set in the finest of 
polished ebony, with cushions to recline upon. If the 
guest is of sufficiently high degree the host insists on 
seating him at his left hand on this couch. Tea is im- 
mediately brought in by servants, and pipes for the 
entertainment of the guests, the pipe-carrier being an 
indispensable attendant of people of any pretensions. 
The tea is brewed in delicate porcelain cups, covered 
over so that it steeps properly. The walls are hung 
with scrolls on which are pen-and-ink sketches, or coup- 
lets written and presented by friends. To the side of 
this reception room are suites of apartments for mem- 
bers of the family, and behind, it may be, are several 
series of courts and apartments, the most of which are 
for the ladies of the house. The beds are wooden struc- 
tures, often elaborately carved, with simple mats laid on 
the smooth boards, and blankets for covering, while the 
head is pillowed on porcelain, wood, or leather, as may 
be preferred. Mosquito nettings are indispensable, and 
are often adorned with embroidered satin borders. The 
comfort of the rich man's bed does not differ materially 
from that of the poor man's, who lays a board on two 
rough stools and spreads his mat upon it. The floors 
of the houses are always of tiles or brick, and conse- 
quently damp. Houses sometimes get the reputation 
of being infested by evil spirits, when it is simply the 



Some Characteristics of the People, 53 

dampness and the noxious gases arising therefrom, caus- 
ing illness among the inmates. A Chinese friend of 
mine rented a large house which had such a reputation. 
The neighbors came to him and said it would be neces- 
sary for him to exorcise the evil spirits to escape the 
sickness that was otherwise sure to befall his family. 
The process consisted in burning incense and wax- 
candles, and setting off large quantities of fire-crackers, 
presumably to frighten the spirits away. Being a Chris- 
tian, he was averse to anything that had the semblance of 
idol worship, and came to me to know what he should 
do. I told him it was the burning of so much powder, 
with which the fire-crackers were filled, that was the 
means of purifying the air, and advised him to procure 
a supply of pure powder, not in the form of crackers, 
and strew it along the walls and in the corners where the 
dampness was most marked and unwholesome odors 
prevailed, and set fire to it. He did so, and found, to 
his relief, that the air was purified and no sickness visited 
him while he remained there. The prevailing belief that 
the firing of crackers drives the evil spirits away arises 
from the same misconception. Twice a month, at new 
and full moon, and on many other special occasions, 
quantities of fire-crackers are exploded in the streets of 
Canton. Many noxious gases are thereby consumed 
or carried away, and general healthiness results ; but 
the people, ignorant of the working of a natural law, 
attribute the good effects to the noise, which they be- 
lieve drives away the spirit of disease and other evils. 

Wine-drinking is a common custom, but drunkenness 
is a comparatively rare occurrence. They use several 



54 The Cross and the Dragon, 

kinds of whiskey distilled from rice, but usually consume 
it in small quantities, their wine cups being about the 
size of an ordinary thimble. At weddings and feasts 
wine is considered indispensable. It quickly flushes the 
face and soon exposes one who has indulged too freely. 
Tea is the universal beverage, and is always taken in 
its purity without the admixture of milk or sugar. The 
grades of quality in tea are almost numberless, the best 
seldom, if ever, finding their way into the European or 
American markets. The custom of offering a cup of 
tea to the visitor is universal. Enter the house of the 
poorest peasant, or the shop of the busiest merchant, 
and the inevitable cup of tea is presented to you ; and 
care must be taken that it is received in the proper 
manner. If it is presented with two hands, it must be 
received with two hands, and you should always invite 
the host or any friends standing near to partake at the 
same time. Few of them ever, and most of them never, 
drink cold water, and they look with amazement at us 
when we take deep draughts of the pure element. The 
colder it is the less they like it. Most of the water they 
use is so impure that the habit of boiling it in making 
their weak tea is a great safeguard. In passing through 
the fruit market one day I saw an old man drinking, as 
I thought, water in small cups, and being struck with such 
a novelty, I asked him, ** Are you drinking water? '' '* Do 
you suppose I am an ox? " was his reply, uttered in tones 
of deep disgust. I found he was regaling himself with 
a particularly fine quality of wine, so clear, indeed, that 
it could not be distinguished in color from water. 

Opium-smoking is the great vice of the people, and its 



Some Characteristics of the People. 55 

evils can scarcely be exaggerated. Much has been said 
and written on the subject. It has been contended that 
the habit itself is comparatively harmless, and that most if 
not all the evils that are attributed to it, are due to other 
causes. The opinion, however, of competent physicians, 
whose long experience and observation in the midst of the 
people give them a right to speak with authority, is that 
its physical effects are deleterious in the extreme. Prac- 
tical observation in almost every part of the province 
and among nearly every class of the people has shown 
me that it is an unmitigated curse. It is fearfully preva- 
lent, but is confined almost exclusively to the men, the 
cases being exceedingly rare where women are found 
addicted to the habit. They, the women, use it as the 
final remedy, as they believe, for all their woes, the most 
common method of committing suicide being to swallow 
opium. In some places four fifths of the men smoke, 
and I suppose it would not be an exaggeration to say of 
the whole province that one fifth of all the men are 
slaves to the habit. The habit is very insidious in its 
growth, but when once it gets control of a man it binds 
him by the chains of an appetite stronger even than 
the craving of the drunkard for drink. It saps a man's 
physical vitality, it stupefies his intellect, destroys his 
moral sensibilities, and ruins his manhood entirely. It 
blots out his natural affections, so that under the lash of 
an insatiable craving he will sell his wife and children to 
gratify his appetite for the drug. It renders him unfit 
for work or business, and being an expensive habit, 
soon brings its victim to abject poverty. The con- 
firmed opium-smoker is one of the most pitiable objects 



56 The Cross and the Dragon, 

that can be imagined : an emaciated frame, dishevelled 
hair and careless dress, dark, ashen face, teeth hideously 
discolored, eyes whose white has turned to yellow, and 
which shine with an unnatural ghtter ; a living skeleton. 
The pernicious practice threatens the manhood of the 
whole nation, and brings untold suffering and hardship 
upon the families whose fathers or sons are enslaved 
by it. Opium-dens are almost as plentiful in Canton as 
beer-saloons in New York. To the Chinese it presents 
peculiar temptations. Their shop life is uniformly dull ; 
they have no resources, no means of recreation; their 
homes offer no attractions in the way of comfort or so- 
ciety ; and this insidious demon approaches them as they 
are suffering the horrors of incurable atmii, and easily 
draws them into its net. In calls for business or pleasure 
it becomes the habit to offer and take a whiff at the 
opium-pipe, and at the closing of a feast or a night's 
debauch the dreamy demon comes as the soothing 
charmer that coils his folds about them. To the poor 
man after his hard day's toil in the cold, damp field, 
it comes to relieve his aching limbs and drive away 
rheumatics ; the student finds it a delightful specific for 
an aching brain, and an easy transition from the musty, 
worm-eaten volumes of the dreamy past to the luxuri- 
ous sensations of a dreamy present. Its victims, how- 
ever, are not all willing slaves ; they chafe and struggle, 
but in vain. I have seen hundreds come to the hospital 
to be cured ; but even with this resolution strong in their 
hearts, they would secrete opium about their persons 
or bribe the gate-keeper to procure them supplies, so 
that it was necessary to keep them under the closest 



Some Characteristics of the People, 57 

surveillance while undergoing the fifteen days' treatment 
necessary to a cure. I once had a boat-crew of opium- 
smokers imposed upon me contrary to stipulation, and 
as the fumes were annoying and the habit interfered 
with their work, I hid their lamp, and forbade them to 
smoke; but they came crawHng on the floor to me, 
knocking their heads on the boards, and pleaded so 
piteously to have it returned, saying they should die 
without it, that I was forced to give it back. I have 
had chair coolies stop, contrary to express orders, in 
the midst of a journey, put me down in a crowded fair, 
with all my belongings at the mercy of a strange crowd, 
and sneak off to an opium-den. I have seen men 
placed on their good behavior in hopes of gaining some 
permanent employment upon which their daily food 
depended, utterly unable to resist the craving. The 
Chinese were unfortunately at a low point in moral stam- 
ina when opium was first brought to them, and so fell an 
easy prey. When the reaction comes, as it surely will, 
many of the weaklings will have been swept off, and those 
who survive will be, no doubt, a stronger race, men- 
tally, morally, and physically. The use of tobacco is al- 
most as universal as the drinking of tea; in fact, the two 
go together in almost every act of hospitality. In some 
places men, women, and children smoke. Tobacco is 
the poor man's solace, and is a comparatively inexpen- 
sive luxury. Their tobacco is usually very mild, and is 
smoked in very small quantities, the pipes holding only 
enough for a few good whifTs, and the smoke is often 
inhaled through water. It invariably happens that an 
opium-smoker is also a confirmed smoker of tobacco. 



58 The Cross and the Dragon, 

The Chinese are inveterate gamblers. When gam- 
bling was invented I have never been able to discover, but 
am disposed to think it must have sprung spontaneously 
from the soil of that land where it has certainly been 
carried to a greater excess than in any other. It is uni- 
versal, and is carried on in infinitely varied forms. The 
children gamble as they go with their copper cash to 
buy sweetmeats, and will throw the dice to see whether 
they will pay three cash for a couple of sugar ducks or 
a handful of peanuts, or get them for one. At every 
country fair the gambling booths are crowded from 
morning till night, while whole streets in the cities are 
given up to such uses. Young men will pawn their 
clothes and tools to get a few ounces of silver to try 
their luck. They gamble on the results of the literary 
and military examinations ; lotteries are carried on ex- 
tensively ; and much of their worship is a simple game 
of chance. They throw the semi-oval blocks of wood 
to see if fortune favors them ; they shake the cup filled 
with bamboo slips to get a lucky number. They pray 
to their gods to secure success in buying lottery tickets, 
and will worship anything in the hope of good luck. I 
have frequently been pursued by people with lottery 
tickets, asking me to prick holes in them or write some 
word upon them to give them luck. A few years ago 
a poor beggar died in the streets of Canton ; some one 
lighted incense sticks and placed them beside the body, 
and forthwith had a run of luck at the gaming-table. 
The news soon spread ; and the poor beggar had more 
money expended for incense and wax-candles to wor- 
ship his corpse in one day than he ever received for 



Some Characteristics of the People. 59 

food and clothing in life. The streets were packed with 
eager crowds, each anxious to secure the help of the 
beggar's ghost, which was supposed to be in some way 
acquainted with the fortunate numbers in the lottery, 
until the officers cleared the street and buried the dead 
body. Gambling is forbidden by law, but is connived 
at by the officials for a pecuniary consideration, and is a 
fruitful source of revenue to the gentry in many places. 

With all their boasted morality, the Chinese are very 
low in the scale of morals. It is not to our purpose to 
descant upon their immoral practices further than to 
say that of them, in common with other pagan nations, 
the picture drawn in the first chapter of Romans is true 
in every detail. They have little regard for the truth ; 
falsehood is not only considered justifiable, but is in 
many cases commended. 

The conversation of the poorer classes especially is 
something too vile and horrible to think of. It seems 
perfectly inconceivable that people, however degraded, 
could bring their lips to repeat such language as falls 
incessantly from their tongues. If the conversation that 
Lot was compelled to listen to in Sodom was anything 
like that which greets the ear in China, he certainly de- 
served profoundest commiseration. They never swear, 
properly speaking; but I have often felt that a good 
round oath in English would be a relief to the awful 
vileness of the expressions with which their conversation 
is so thickly interlarded. To hear boys use in play, or 
mothers in speaking to their daughters, or parents teach- 
ing the lisping child to repeat words, the like of which I 
could scarcely believe a human being could be found 



6o The Cross and the Dragon. 

base enough to utter, and that too without any apparent 
thought that they were saying anything out of the way, 
— revealed a depth of pollution that was appalling ; and 
to be compelled to hear such language day after day 
was one of the greatest trials of my life in China. The 
boat-people seem worse in this respect than any others. 
They form a large element in the population of Canton, 
and are found in greater or less numbers in all the in- 
land cities. They form a lower class of the people, whose 
history is not definitely known. They are regarded by 
some as the original inhabitants of the country, reduced 
to subjection by the Chinese. Their homes are on the 
water, where they live in boats of various sizes, or in 
houses built on piles. Their language is the same, but 
their customs vary greatly from those of the people on 
shore. They never bind their women's feet, and have a 
different set of deities which they worship. Their num- 
ber in Canton is about two hundred thousand. Their 
moral condition is much lower than that of the people 
in general, and as yet no foothold for Christian work has 
been gained among them. They are deprived of many 
privileges accorded to the land people ; but any of them, 
by taking up his residence on shore, can secure to his 
grandchildren the privileges of which he is deprived. 
Their boats are the usual means of transit from one 
point to another along the river. The women row, 
often with babies strapped on their backs. They are 
a hardy race, usually good-natured, but often disturb 
the quiet of the neighborhood by wordy quarrels, in 
which torrents of vituperation are poured forth with 
astonishing volubility. 



Some Characteristics of the People. 6i 

Taking the people as a whole, their fundamental quali- 
ties of industry, stability, and readiness to submit to au- 
thority contain the promise of cheering results in the 
future, when enlightened ideas and the power of the 
Gospel shall transform them into active, aggressive 
Christian men. In their semi-civilized state they are no 
doubt more difficult to impress than people who are 
found without civilization, without education, or without 
a fixed government; but those very qualities which 
present a temporary obstacle to the wide acceptance 
of Christianity will in the future prove most power- 
ful auxiliaries and secure its complete and permanent 
establishment. 



62 The Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONFUCIUS AND CONFUCIANISM. 

NO man that ever lived has exerted so deep and 
permanent an influence over so vast a multitude 
of people as Confucius, the great Chinese sage, and no 
one to-day is so highly revered by so large a portion of 
the race as he. Everything pertaining to the life, habits, 
and methods of teaching of so great a man is of intense 
interest. In the year 551 B. C. he was born, in the 
province of Shan-tung. His father, who was a district 
magistrate, died three years after his birth, leaving him 
to the care of his mother. From early years he showed 
unusual gravity of disposition and a great love for 
books, in keeping with his after life. He was married 
at the age of twenty, at which time also he was intrusted 
with a minor office in his native state. Four years later 
his mother died, whereupon he gave up his position and 
retired into private life to indulge in three years' mourn- 
ing, thus reviving an ancient custom which had fallen 
into disuse, but which through his example has been 
continued to the present day. 

These three years were devoted to study. His re- 
searches led him into a comparison of the documents 
handed down from previous ages, and aroused in him 
a great enthusiasm and respect for the learning and 



Confucius a7id Confucianism. 63 

methods of the ancients. He criticised severely the 
defects of government as then administered, and pointed 
to the noble examples of the past as patterns worthy 
of imitation. By the time he was thirty his reputa- 
tion as a teacher was established. Pupils gathered to 
him from all parts of the land, and invitations came 
to him from the courts of several of the feudal states to 
visit them. When fifty years of age he had full oppor- 
tunity of putting his theories into practice as magistrate 
of the town of Chung-tu, to which position he was 
appointed by his sovereign, Duke Ting, and for three 
years administered affairs with such a combination of 
zeal, prudence, and regard for the rights of all, that 
the state of Lu was raised to so superior a condition 
of discipline and prosperity that all the neighboring 
states stood in dread of her. His success as a magis- 
trate has added greatly to the force of his teachings, 
which were seen to work so admirably in their practical 
application. 

Like most great men, he was not always appreciated 
or treated with respect by his contemporaries. Op- 
posed in his schemes, maligned as to his motives, and 
persecuted by his rivals, he was often discouraged and 
his life more than once in danger. He ever had the 
courage of one who considered himself appointed by 
Heaven to instruct the people, and when rebuffed would 
say: "What matters the ingratitude of men? They 
cannot hinder me from doing all the good that has been 
appointed me. If my precepts are disregarded, I have 
the consolation of knowing in my own breast that I have 
faithfully performed my duty." 



64 The Cross and the Dragon* 

Many legends have grown up around his hfe, and to 
his countrymen he now appears a demi-god ; but it is 
remarkable that in all these accounts of him, nothing in 
any way miraculous has been connected with his life. 
Commonplace circumstances have been magnified, yet 
all is in perfect keeping with the intensely practical 
nature of his teachings. It is said that near the close of 
his life, when he had finished his writings, he collected 
his friends about him, and solemnly dedicated the fruits 
of his labors to Heaven. He returned thanks upon his 
knees for having had life and strength given him to 
accomplish the work, and implored Heaven to make 
these labors a benefit to his countrymen. Chinese pic- 
tures represent the sage in an attitude of supplication, 
and a beam of light or a rainbow descending from the 
sky upon the books, while his Scholars stand around him 
in admiring wonder. It is said that a few days before 
his death he tottered about his house sighing; — 

'* The great mountain is broken ! 
The strong beam is thrown down ! 
The wise man withers like a plant ! " 

He died at the age of seventy-three, leaving but one 
descendant, his grandson, through whom the family has 
been continued until the present day. Honors have 
been heaped upon his name, and the titles of " Most 
Holy Ancient Teacher " and " Holy Duke " bestowed 
upon him. His family is undoubtedly one of the oldest 
in the world. Two thousand one hundred and fifty 
years after his death there were living eleven thousand 
males bearing his name, most of them in the seventy- 
fourth generation. 



Confucius and Confucianism. 65 



His method of teaching was chiefly by means of dia- 
logues between himself and pupils. He would improve 
passing events to impress his lessons, using the stream 
they were crossing, the birds of the air, or the political 
event of the day to point the moral of his precept. 
One day, observing, in a passing fowler's collection, the 
absence of old birds, he drew forth the explanation that 
the old birds were too wary to be caught, and the young 
ones who had sense enough to keep close to the old 
ones escaped with them, while the rash ones that wan- 
dered off alone and ventured near the net were ensnared. 
Turning to his disciples he bade them heed the words 
of the fowler, saying: *' It is thus with mankind. Pre- 
sumption, hardihood, and want of forethought are the 
principal reasons why young people are led astray. In- 
flated with their small attainments, they have scarcely 
made a commencement in learning, before they think 
they know everything. Under this impression they 
doubt nothing, hesitate at nothing, pay attention to 
nothing. They rashly undertake matters without con- 
sulting the aged and experienced, and then, securely fol- 
lowing their own natures, are misled and fall into the 
first snare laid for them." 

Confucianism is mentioned as one of the three great 
sects prevailing in China; and its name, Yu-Kiao, is 
often translated " the Religion of the Learned." This 
expression is doubly misleading, since the system is not 
distinctively religious in the proper acceptance of the 
term, and furthermore is not confined to the educated 
classes. It is a system of morality and political econ- 
omy, and relates to the duties of men to each other in 

5 



66 The Cross and the Dragon, 

the family, in the community, and in the state. As to 
the religious sentiments of the sage himself no definite 
clew is given in his writings. While he appeals to 
Heaven and seems to admit the existence of a Power 
above that takes cognizance of human actions, he is 
significantly silent on all that pertains to death and the 
future. He confines himself to the region of the know- 
able, humanly speaking, and appears to have been an 
agnostic of the modern type. In the incident so often 
related, when one of his pupils asked him about death 
and what followed, his evasive reply was, " Imperfectly 
acquainted with life, what can we know of death?" 

His ethical teachings have been justly lauded as ap- 
proaching more nearly the Christian system than any 
other of purely human origin. The Golden Rule enun- 
ciated in its negative form was called forth by the ques- 
tion of Tsze-Kung : " Is there one word which may serve 
as a rule of practice for all of one's life? " To which the 
sage replied, "Is not recipivcity such a word? Do not 
unto others what you would not have them do to you." 
This and many other precepts, inculcating the highest 
forms of political and social morality, place him in the 
front rank of ethical teachers. His philosophy enjoins 
subordination to superiors and urges kind and upright 
dealings with our fellow-men, but is destitute of all 
reference to an unseen Power, and contemplates only 
the relations and sanctions of this world. His system 
culminates in the grand ideal he presents of the perfect 
man, the Kiun-tsz, or Princely Scholar. This noble 
conception which he constantly holds up before his 
audience stands ever like a beacon light, and has exerted 



Co7ifucius and Confucianism, 67 

an immense influence for good among his followers. It 
is pure, unselfish, dignified, just, manly, beneficent, — 
in short, an epitome of every sterling quality, and the 
practical exemplification of all virtues. According to 
his own confession, he ever strove to attain, but never 
reached, his own ideal. ** The sage and the perfect 
man, — how dare I rank myself with them? " 

In originality and brilliancy he does not compare with 
the philosophers of ancient Greece, with whom he was 
almost contemporaneous. He describes himself as a 
" transmitter and not a maker." He collated the writ- 
ings of a past age, and looked upon the productions of 
a period supposed to extend two thousand years pre- 
vious to his time as the source of truest wisdom. He 
collected, edited, and gave permanent shape to these 
writings of the past. Of the thirteen canonical works 
that form the basis of the system that goes by his name, 
he is the actual author of but two or three. His char- 
acter, however, is stamped upon them, and while refer- 
ring to the sages of the past as his chief authority, he 
constantly appeals to the consciences of his hearers. 
Herein lies one great test of his system, that through all 
after ages the conscience of the people has responded 
to the justness and practical force of his precepts. 

Some conception of the scope of the system may be 
gained from a brief survey of its leading points. 

Popularly speaking, its practical teachings are 
summed up in the five relations and the five virtues. 
The five relations enumerated are those existing be- 
tween the prince and his minister, the father and son, 
the husband and wife, elder and younger brothers, and 



68 The Cross and the Dragon. 

friends. The duties pertaining to each are elaborately 
set forth and impressed with many amplifications. 

The five virtues are given as humanity, righteousness, 
propriety, knowledge, and fidelity. A briefer summary 
of three is sometimes given, namely, knowledge, hu- 
manity, and valor. 

Humanity is the fundamental virtue. It pertains to 
the relation of man to man, and is the necessary condi- 
tion of his proper conduct among men. There may be 
superior men without it, but never an inferior man with 
it. " The perfect man does not for a moment abandon 
it, but attains his name by it, and through all emergen- 
cies cleaves to it." 

Righteousness is seen in public life, and stands in 
antithesis to desire for personal profit and to prejudice. 
"Virtue is exalted by righteousness." " To know what 
is right and not do it, is cowardice." " If the rulers 
keep in the right, the people will remain willingly sub- 
missive." Propriety, the observance of ceremonies, is 
of first importance in the system of Confucius. He 
declares that "ceremonies consist not in gems and 
silks, but proceed from the degrees of relationship and 
steps of honor, and form, therefore, the distinctions of 
social life." "The virtues are completed by propriety." 
"Without it respectfulness becomes laborious bustle; 
carefulness becomes timidity ; boldness, insubordination ; 
straightforwardness, rudeness." 

Knowledge is the practical acquaintance with men 
and things. Three things are considered necessary: 
the knowledge of one's destiny, of the rules of pro- 
priety, and eloquence of expression. " Men should 



Confucius and Confucianism. 69 

also comprehend the limits of their knowledge," that is, 
have clear views as to what they know, and what they 
do not know. The moral side of learning is empha- 
sized. "Mere knowledge is useless;" and ''perfect 
knowledge should be followed by the choice of what 
is good." 

Fidelity, or faith, refers to confidence in social life, 
the trust men place in each other, and is often combined 
with loyalty. " Faith is necessary between friends," and 
especially between governments and their subjects. 
" Without confidence men cannot get on, as carriages 
cannot without the cross-bar for harnessing the beasts." 
" The way of the perfect man " is laid down under the 
following eight-fold gradation of duty : " The distinc- 
tion of things, the completion of knowledge, veracity of 
intention, rectification of the heart, cultivation of the 
whole person, management of the family, government of 
the state, peace for the whole empire." The first five of 
these refer to his own person, while the last three pertain 
to external efficiency in reference to other men. Under 
these topics the various duties of life are classified, the 
whole forming a circle of practical virtues setting forth 
in pleasing symmetry the ideal of the perfect man. 

The standard works of Confucianism are the Four 
Books and the Five Classics. 

First in the list of the Four Books is the Ta-hioh, or 
" Great Learning." It is a brief dissertation separated 
into eleven chapters, devoted to an exposition of the vir- 
tues of the perfect man. A fine example of reasoning 
in a circle is given in the first chapter, where the fun- 
damental idea of the treatise is thus developed. " The 



70 The Cross and the Dragon. 

ancients who wished to illustrate renovating Virtue 
throughout the Empire first ordered well their own states. 
Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated 
their famihes. Wishing to regulate their families, they 
first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their 
persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rec- 
tify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their 
thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they 
extended their knowledge to the utmost. Such exten- 
sion of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. 
Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. 
Knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sin- 
cere; their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were 
rectified ; their hearts being rectified, their persons were 
cultivated ; their persons being cultivated, their families 
were regulated. Families being regulated, states were 
rightly governed, and states being rightly governed, the 
Empire was made tranquil." 

The second of the Four Books is the Chung-yung, or 
** Doctrine of the Mean." It was composed by Kung- 
Kih, the grandson of Confucius, and sets forth the vir- 
tues of the perfect man, his aim no doubt being to 
idealize his grandfather, by elevating him to the dignity 
of Shing-yen, or sage. In this work the Kiun-tsz, or 
princely man, Is described as one who in dealing with 
others descends to nothing low or improper. *' He 
stands in the middle and leans not to either side." He 
enters into no situation where he is not himself. If he 
holds a high position, he does not treat those below him 
with contempt; if he occupies an inferior position, he 
uses no mean arts to gain the favor of his superiors. 



Confucius and Co7t/uctantsm, *]\ 

" He corrects himself and blames not others ; he feels 
no dissatisfaction. On the one hand, he murmurs not 
at Heaven, nor, on the other, does he feel resentment 
toward men; hence the superior man dwells at ease, 
entirely waiting the will of Heaven." 

The third of the Four Books is the Lun-yu, or 
" Analects of Confucius," in which many of his words 
and precepts as reported by his disciples are collected. 
It abounds in sententious sayings and shrewd criticisms 
on men and things, such as the following: — 

** I have found no man who esteems virtue as he 
esteems pleasure." "Without virtue, both riches and 
honor seem to me like a passing cloud." " The superior 
man is never satisfied with himself; he that is satisfied 
with himself is not perfect." 

The last of the Four Books consists entirely of the 
writings of Mencius, who flourished nearly two hun- 
dred years later than Confucius, and was the contem- 
porary of Plato and other Grecian philosophers. His 
originality of thought and expansive views of truth 
made him the superior of his great predecessor, and 
he is justly regarded by many as the greatest mind 
that Eastern Asia has ever produced. He stands next 
to Confucius in the esteem of his countrymen, and 
to him belongs the credit of developing and system- 
atizing the ''teachings of his master. His advice to 
princes is tersely given when he says: " He who gains 
the hearts of the people secures the throne, and he 
who loses the hearts of the people loses the throne." 
His estimate of human nature is found in his declara- 
tion that " all men are naturally virtuous, as all water 



72 The C^^oss and the Dragon, 

flows downward." With much significance he says: 
" Shame is of great moment to men ; it is only the 
designing and artful that find no use for shame." His 
own inflexible uprightness is shown in the words : " I 
love life and I love justice; but if I cannot preserve 
both, I would give up life and hold fast justice." 

The first of the Five Classics is the Yih-King, " Book 
of Changes." Its contents are still an enigma to 
scholars, and its mysterious diagrams have furnished 
stock in trade to the thousands of fortune-tellers and 
tricksters who use its formulas to further their own 
ends. 

The second in the list is the Shu-King, or "■ Book of 
Records," and is considered by many to be the most an- 
cient of all Chinese writings. It contains brief records of 
events in the history of China from the year 2357 B. C. 
to the year 627 B. c. It has but little of the character 
of true history, but, according to the popular estimation, 
contains the germs of all that is valuable in the way of 
knowledge. 

The third Classic is the Shi-King, or " Book of Odes." 
It contains a collection of the most ancient songs of the 
people, three hundred and five in number, and has ex- 
erted a great influence upon the thought and imagina- 
tion of the people through all their past history. They 
are remarkable for their entire freedom from all the im- 
purities so characteristic of similar productions in other 
pagan nations. The metaphors are often quaint and 
ridiculous. Poems to Nature, national hymns, love 
songs, laments, etc., are found. The following verse is 
from a wife's lament for her husband in his absence : 



Confucius and Confucianisnis 73 

♦'At sun and moon I sit and gaze 
In converse with my troubled heart. 
Far from me my husband stays. 
When will he come to heal its smart ? 
Ye princely men who with him mate, 
Say, mark ye not his virtuous way ? 
His rule is, Covet not, none hate; 
How can his steps from goodness stray ? ' 

The fourth Classic is the Le-Ki, '* Book of Rites." Its 
sections were collected by Confucius, and in them he is 
supposed to give his views of government and manners. 
The Chinese arc the most ceremonious of all peoples, 
and in this book are set forth in detail all the require- 
ments which ceremony lays upon men in official life, in 
society, in morality, and in religion. 

The last of the Five Classics is the Chun-tsiu, *' Spring 
and Autumn," the only one of which it can be said with 
certainty that Confucius is its author. It was intended 
as a continuation of the Book of History, and is brief 
even to barrenness, and utterly disappointing to those 
who hope to find in it some worthy monument of the 
great sage. But for the amplification of Tso, a follower 
of the sage, who has filled in with incidents and details 
the bare outline of the original, the work would not only 
have been destitute of interest, but would hardly have 
survived at all. 

Around these standards has grown up a vast array of 
commentaries and dissertations setting forth the views 
of subsequent writers on the doctrines taught. The 
excessive conciseness of style and not infrequent 
ambiguity of expression lead to views often widely 
divergent. The works enumerated with the standard 



74 The Cross and the Dragon. 

commentaries form the basis of education and the 
fountain of all knowledge to the people, and are, to 
the present day, regarded as absolute authority on all 
the subjects treated in them. The Chinese nation is 
indebted for its permanence to this system of practical 
philosophy and the popular education that has grown 
out of it, more than to any other cause that might be 
nanied. It has preserved their unity by securing uni- 
formity of thought and custom, and by urging the 
imitation of the same models. 

While giving full weight to all the good that has come 
from this system, we should not shut our eyes to the 
evils that are apparent. Practical Confucianism is to-day 
an anomaly, and in many respects a monstrosity; a sys- 
tem without energy or vitality. It retains but the form 
of the ancient, while all life and vigor have long been ex- 
tinct. The doctrines of the sage are held in theory, but 
denied in practice. Divine honors are paid to the Great 
Master, but not one in ten thousand makes any per- 
ceptible effort to imitate his noble example or attain to 
his grand ideal of the princely man. The Book of 
"Changes is used in divination, and the Book of Rites 
followed in their absurdly punctilious observance of the 
forms of etiquette. Family and social regulations are 
placed on an artificial basis, and quotations adduced in 
great number to support every antiquated custom and 
every obstructive piece of legislation. The government, 
theoretically modelled after the ancient pattern, is lamen- 
tably lacking in those sterling principles of justice and 
humanity so strenuously insisted upon by the sage. 
Were Confucius to return to-day he would be astonished 



Confucius and Confucianism. 75 

to find his name attached to a system that would only 
call forth his scorn and condemnation. Early Confu- 
cianism was a system of noble conceptions and of vital 
force; the system of to-day is a petrified corpse in a 
stone coffin. Hypocrisy, lust, and corruption in every 
form flourish under the mantle of the sages. 

The system of education that prevails fosters a retro- 
gressive spirit. The young are taught to regard the old 
books as containing the sum of all knowledge ; and in 
storing them in their memories are supposed to be 
equipped for the active duties of life. Experience 
soon shows them that precept and practice are widely 
separated, and that the sayings of the old books are 
quoted to support lines of conduct directly contrary to 
what the words would naturally mean. The principle 
that knowledge is progressive is denied. Their faces 
are turned to the past and their backs to the future, and 
their whole time spent in searching among the dry bones 
of past ages for principles to guide in the living present. 
As a result of this method the land is covered with nar- 
row-minded, bigoted, and, as far as the practical issues 
of the times go, ignorant hosts of so-called literati^ who 
hold to the past with a blind fatalism painful to see. 
They confront every new idea with the opinions and 
examples of men who have been dead from two to three 
thousand years, and stultify themselves by living con- 
stantly at variance with the precepts for which they pro- 
fess such reverence. 

Confucius should not be held responsible for the 
errors of his followers, yet in his own extreme rever- 
ence for antiquity he gave a bent to the system which 



76 The Cross and the Dragon. 

has become more glaring in its effects as the centuries 
have rolled by. The defects in the original system 
which have grown and given rise to others are numer- 
ous, and may be briefly stated as follows : No relation 
to a living God is recognized. It is devoid of any deep 
insight into sin and moral evil. It knows no mediator, 
who could restore the ideal which man finds in himself. 
Though faith is insisted upon, truthfulness is not urged, 
but rather the reverse. Polygamy is presupposed and 
tolerated. Polytheism is sanctioned. Fortune-telling, 
choosing of days, omens, dreams, and other illusions 
are believed in. Ethics are confounded with external 
ceremonies. The influence of a mere good example 
is exaggerated. Its system of social life is mere 
tyranny: women are slaves, children have no rights 
in relation to their parents. Filial piety is exaggerated 
into the deification of parents. All rewards are ex- 
pected in this life, so that egotism, avarice, and am- 
bition are fostered. No comfort is offered to ordinary 
mortals either in life or in death. The history of China 
shows that it is incapable of effecting for the people a 
new birth to a higher life and nobler efforts, and that it 
has in practical life been greatly influenced by Bud- 
dhistic and other erroneous ideas and practices. 

With all these defects, it has done much for the peo- 
ple, and has still many elements that may prove of the 
highest value as a foundation for something higher and 
purer. Some great reformer is needed to break up these 
fossilized incrustations that ages have formed around it, 
and bring forth into the clear light of the present the 
living truths and principles the system contains, and, 



Confucius a7id Confucianism, 77 

uniting them with the truths of reHgion and science as 
set forth in Western learning, usher in an era of true hfe 
and activity that would send the nation forward on a 
career of power and prosperity never before equalled. 

Although in its original form, it was to a great extent 
a worship of genius, yet in its present form Confucian- 
ism discourages genius and originality, and frowns upon 
all independent thought. As long as the past is con- 
sidered to have the monopoly of wisdom and learning; 
as long as Chinese scholars content themselves with the 
dust and ashes of bygone centuries ; as long as the 
tendency every year is to increase the height of these 
walls of ultra-conservatism, which confine them to the 
narrow enclosure of ancient experience and traditional 
knowledge, and shut them out from the rich fields of 
knowledge yet unexplored, whose very existence they 
would ignore, so long will the nation, even in its ad- 
vanced age, appear but a stunted child, dwarfed in 
stature, and weak in intellect. Confucianism is not 
necessarily or wholly the enemy of Christianity. Many 
of its precepts arc congenial to the principles of the 
Gospel ; but certain phases, or rather accidents, of the 
original system have come to be prominent character- 
istics, in the line of which it has assumed a decidedly 
anti-Christian form. 

The chief of these is ancestral worship, which, handed 
down from the remote past, Confucius accepted and 
gave directions for its performance. This system has 
developed to alarming proportions, and the name of the 
great sage is inseparably connected with it. It now 
forms one of the leading articles in the creed of the 



78 The Cross and the Dragon. 

modern Confucianist, and places him at once in open 
antagonism to the Gospel. The reverence due to the 
sage himself has been carried to the extreme of worship, 
so that in every county seat, as well as every larger city, 
is found a temple to his honor, where his tablet is set 
up, with those of his seventy-two disciples on either 
side, and regular worship paid at stated periods. Each 
successful candidate in the examinations must repair to 
the temple of Confucius and offer worship and thanks- 
giving to the sage. There are in China one thousand 
five hundred and sixty Confucian temples, in which 
the annual offerings of pigs, sheep, deer, etc., amount 
to the number of sixty thousand, besides twenty-seven 
thousand pieces of silk presented. In every school, of 
whatever grade, his tablet is an important object, and 
each pupil, as he enters, must bow in worship to this 
prince of letters. 

In this way divine honors are accorded him, and in 
the minds of many he is exalted ** above all that is 
called God or that is worshipped." 

The State Religion of China, which is so remarkable 
for its history and antiquity, is an integral part of the 
present system of Confucianism. The highest act in 
this worship is performed by the Emperor, and the 
forms prescribed in the ancient classics have been kept 
up for three thousand years. The one prominent idea 
is that the Emperor is Tien-tsz, *' the Son of Heaven," 
the co-ordinate of Heaven and Earth, from whom he 
derives his right and power to rule among men, the one 
man who is their Vicegerent, the third in the Confucian 
Trinity of " Heaven, Earth, and Man." The grandeur 



Confucius and Confucianism. 79 

and simplicity of the worship performed at the Altar of 
Heaven, in Peking, have deeply impressed those per- 
mitted to witness it. In addition to this worship by the 
Emperor, every magistrate is required to perform vari- 
ous idolatrous ceremonies at the temples. In every 
walled town is the City Temple, to which officers must 
go in person or by deputy at the time of the equinoxes, 
the new and full moon, and other specified occasions, 
to worship the gods of the land and grain. On the 
occasion of drought or distress of any kind, they must 
beseech the gods for help. Thus the government, 
founded on Confucianism, is inseparably connected with 
idolatry, and has raised a serious barrier between itself 
and Christianity. 

In the matter of speculative religion, the mass of 
Chinese literati are atheists, materialists, or, at best, 
agnostics. Wrapped in the mantle of their literary 
exclusiveness, they ridicule the worship of idols, even 
while going through the services as a matter of form, 
their practice in this respect being on a par with their 
whole character as professed disciples of the great sage. 
The lack of power in the system is strikingly shown in 
the fact that its most enthusiastic supporters are sunk 
in debasing practices, and that, with all its lofty pre- 
cepts, it has not been able to lift the people into a state 
of practical purity of life, though it has, no doubt, kept 
them from sinking altogether into the mire of sensuality 
and pollution. 



8o The Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER V. 

BUDDHISM IN CHINA. 

A /TOST conspicuous among the religious systems of 
^^ ^ China is Buddhism. Its temples and monas- 
teries, the peculiar dress of its priests, the tremendous 
size and frightful appearance of many of its idols, are 
objects that arrest the attention on every hand. Go 
where you will, the bonze, with his shaven head, long, 
drab-colored robe, and string of beads, is met with. 
The history of the introduction of this system into 
China is one of the most interesting chapters in the 
study of the past. To a right understanding of its 
teachings and tendencies as developed in China, to a 
better appreciation of its growth and influence in the 
past and its present status, some brief remarks as to the 
origin and general principles of the system will be of ad- 
vantage. Its founder, Shak-ya-Muni-Giutama Buddha, 
was born in Benares, about the year 623 B. c. Without 
accepting a tithe of all the wonderful statements made 
concerning his birth, life, and teachings, we cannot but 
regard him as one of the most remarkable and benevo- 
lent men the world has ever seen. Although springing 
from the soil of India, Buddhism never took deep root 
there^ meeting in its earlier stages the strong opposition 
and persecution of the adherents of Brahmanism, while in 



Buddhism in China. 8i 

later times it was entirely supplanted in many places 
by Mahometanism. 

From the beginning the spirit of propagandism was 
strongly manifested, so that when driven from the place 
of its birth the system spread to the north and to the 
south. As developed in these two directions, there ap- 
pears not merely a geographical divergence, but a deeper 
and more fundamental difference in the specific doctrines 
emphasized. As it spread to Ceylon, Burmah, and Siam, 
it retained more of its original form, and used the Pali 
language as the vehicle for transmitting its teachings. 
Northern Buddhism extended first to Nepaul, thence to 
Thibet, China, Mongolia, Japan, and Corea, using the 
Sanscrit language in the composition of its books. 
This wide extension was achieved through the agency 
of missionaries sent out in great numbers on all sides, 
who for the most part seem to have been sincere, self- 
denying enthusiasts. 

Its introduction into China is surrounded by a maze 
of remarkable circumstances. The records state that 
in the year 63 A. D., the ruling Emperor, Han-Ming-ti, 
had a wonderful vision, in which a large golden image 
with a halo around its head approached and entered his 
palace. Anxious to know the interpretation of so re- 
markable a dream, he consulted with his friends and 
wise men as to its import. His brother, the Prince Tsu, 
having already some knowledge of the religion that had 
then spread beyond the bounds of India to the north, 
and being favorably disposed toward it, said the vision" 
referred to the statue of Buddha. Forthwith an embassy 
was sent in search, which returned a few years later, with 

6 



82 The Cross and the Dragon. 

a sandal-wood image, the counterpart of the golden one 
in the vision, one book, and a Hindoo priest. This was 
the beginning ; but the progress was slow, and for three 
hundred years they had only this one small book. A 
century or two later came the eighteen missionaries, the 
arhans, Chinese loh-han, or " disciples," whose images 
find a place in every Buddhist temple. The number 
of agents gradually increased, until at one time there 
were no less than three thousand Buddhist mission- 
aries from India propagating their faith in China. Al- 
though introduced under imperial patronage and re- 
ceived with favor by many high officials, it met with 
strong opposition from the Confucianists, and never in 
any period of its history did it become the national 
religion. 

Chinese Buddhism is a system vast and intricate. It 
would not only be a most difficult task, but one quite 
foreign to our object, to attempt any thorough discus- 
sion of its theory and principles. We can only touch 
some salient points and seek to give some indication of 
its present workings. It lays down four principles which 
are supposed to contain the secret of true wisdom. 

I . Misery is the necessary attendant of sentient exist- 
ence. 2. The accumulation of misery is caused by de- 
sire. 3. The extinction of desire is possible. 4. There is 
a path which leads to that extinction. Proceeding upon 
the theory that life is a necessary evil, aggravated by 
desire, the aim of all religious exercise is the suppres- 
sion of desire and the absorption of life into the great 
void of non-existence. Its highest conception of relig- 
ious development is found in the so-called Buddhist 



Buddhism in China, 83 

Trinity, known as the " Three Precious Ones," whose 
images, often thirty feet or more high, occupy the most 
conspicuous place in their monasteries. They are some- 
times designated as the past, present, and future Bud- 
dhas. Their Sanscrit names are Buddha, Dharma, and 
Senga. '* In the first, Buddha is represented as he ex- 
isted, that is, personified intelHgence ; the second is the 
law or the religion established by him ; and the third is 
the practical issue of both, that is, the church, or rather 
the priesthood, which forms the church." They are also 
called the three refuges, and the devotee utters his prayer 
of consecration : " I take my refuge in Buddha ; that is, 
I will imitate him in all my doings. I take my refuge in 
Dharma, the law ; that is, I accept all its ideas of the im- 
permanence of things, and the necessity of absolute self- 
renunciation. I take my refuge in Senga, the church 
or priesthood ; that is, I renounce society, property, 
matrimonial and family life, and see no salvation out- 
side the pale of the church." 

The moral code of the Buddhist contains ten prohibi- 
tions, which are given with much variation, both in order 
and substance. They are sometimes engraved in stone 
or posted in large letters in the temples and other public 
places. The order of these prohibitions is frequently 
given as follows: against (i) Killing; (2) Stealing; 
(3) Adultery; (4) Lying; (5) Selling wine; (6) Speak- 
ing of others' faults; (7) Praising one's self and defam- 
ing others; (8) Parsimony joined with scoffing; (9) 
Anger, and refusing to be corrected; (10) Reviling 
the Three Precious Ones. When a priest takes the vows 
he engages to obey the first five of these restrictions. 



84 The Cross and the Dragon. 

Lying in the course of obedience to or neglect of 
these laws of conduct are the six paths or grades of 
metempsychosis, which are enumerated in the follow- 
ing order: I. Gods. 2. Men. 3. Monsters. 4. Life in 
Hades. 5. Hungry ghosts. 6. Animals. Each of these 
embraces within its own circle a vast number of minor 
grades. The doctrine of transmigration of souls is at 
once the most prominent and pernicious of Buddhistic 
teachings. Adopted originally from Brahmanism, it 
has become the leading article in its creed, and gives 
coloring to all its teachings and practice. In connection 
with it the most hideous representations of hell are de- 
picted. Under the control of Yama, or Im-lo-wong, the 
King of Hades, and his Chinese assistants, the hapless 
victims are exposed to extremes of heat and cold ; de- 
mons of monstrous shape and fiendish disposition pur- 
sue them, cutting, flaying, biting, insulting, and terrifying 
them in every way, fire, water, knives, and clubs being 
used. 

One great secret of the prevalence of Buddhism is 
found in its eclecticism. It chooses what is best adapted 
for its purposes from existing systems, and incorporates 
it as its own. Where it could not overcome, it appropri- 
ated ; hence it appears in widely different forms when 
studied in different countries. Beginning as atheism, 
it became pantheism in India, and polytheism in China. 
This tendency to adopt ideas and customs from other 
systems is shown in the fact that its three great Chi- 
nese patrons, Wa-kwong, Lung-wong, and Kwan-ti, are 
Taoist deities prominent in the pantheon of a rival sect. 
To these they have added the god of wealth, so exten- 



Buddhism in China, 85 

sively worshipped ; and in some places the '* Sam Kwan," 
the three Taoist worthies, and Yuk-ti, the Taoist Jupi- 
ter, will be found. Moreover the original Chinese kitchen 
god is set up to preside over the diet in Buddhist 
temples. 

The worship of the spirits of the dead being a uni- 
versal practice, they have taken it under their wing, and 
in conjunction with the Taoists superintend the cere- 
monies of the Yu-lan-Ui, or " association for feeding 
the dead," which offers annual worship to the hungry 
ghosts. These hapless spirits, which have no relatives 
to sacrifice to them, are reduced to a state of beggary 
in the lower world ; but from the first to the fifteenth of 
the seventh month they are permitted to leave their 
prison house and wander up and down the earth, and if 
not propitiated with offerings of clothes and money, 
will revenge themselves upon the people. They are 
dreaded by the superstitious as the authors of all sorts 
of evil. The Buddhists, by adopting this festival of All 
Souls, and emphasizing it by their doctrine of trans- 
migration, have gained wide influence and popularity. 

In China the Buddhist Church has never gained the 
position it holds in Thibet and Mongolia. There it 
prevails to the exclusion of almost every other form of 
belief, with its hierarchy established in most elaborate 
detail, the Grand Lama living as a pope in the city of 
H'lassa. In Thibet the influence of early Nestorian 
Christians is traced by some in the doctrines and ritual 
of the church. Not only is the story of Christ repro- 
duced in their account of Buddha, but the church in its 
outward form is said to be modelled to a great extent 



86 The Cross and the Dragon, 

after the Nestorian idea. "The Buddhist Church in 
Thibet has its pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, and 
nuns. It has infant baptism, confirmation, masses for 
the souls of the dead, rosaries, chaplets, candles, holy 
water, processions, saints* days, fast days, etc." Some 
of these things have found their way to China, and will 
help to account for the striking resemblance which 
many have observed between the ceremonies of the 
Romish Church and those of the Buddhist. The 
Buddhist scriptures were handed down orally from gen- 
eration to generation, thus affording easy facilities for 
variation and addition. It was not until the year 93 
B. c. that any part was reduced to writing, and the whole 
canon was not compiled until the beginning of the fifth 
century of our era. This, moreover, was the canon of 
southern Buddhism, that of the northern section not 
being completed until a much later period. The two 
correspond in the main points, but in the northern are 
many additions not found in the other. In it the 
account of Shak-ya-Muni-Buddha's life is made to re- 
semble that of Christ to a remarkable degree. He is 
described as *' coming from Heaven, being born of a 
virgin, welcomed by angels, received by an old saint, 
presented in a temple, baptized with water and after- 
wards with fire, astonishing the doctors with his under- 
standing and answers, as led into the wilderness, and 
after being tempted of the devil, going about doing 
wonders and preaching. He was the friend of the poor 
and wretched, was transfigured on a mount, descended 
into hell, and ascended into Heaven." Thus almost 
every incident is reproduced. How is this remarkable 



Buddhism in China. 87 

correspondence to be accounted for, since Buddha was 
born six hundred and twenty-three years before Christ? 
Sceptics have been found who account for it by say- 
ing that in the interval of eighteen years that elapsed 
from the time our Lord was twelve until He reached 
the age of thirty, during which period the gospels are 
silent concerning Him, Christ made His way to India, 
and possessing Himself of these facts, appeared simply 
as a weak imitation of the great Buddha. The Jesuits 
attribute it to the agency of the devil, whose consum- 
mate cunning anticipated in Buddha what belonged to 
Christ. There is, however, a much simpler and easier 
way out of the difficulty. It can be proved that almost 
every detail of the Christian coloring which Buddhistic 
tradition has given to the life of its founder is of com- 
paratively modern origin. Ancient manuscripts contain 
very few details of Buddha's life, and none of these 
peculiarly Christian ones. These cannot be proved to 
have been in circulation earlier than the fifth or sixth 
century after Christ. It appears then, that this so-called 
Light of Asia shines in the borrowed radiance of the 
Son of David. 

So too with the doctrine of the Western Paradise. The 
Amitahva-Buddha, words more frequently repeated in 
China than any other, is also a later addition. " In the 
Western Paradise, according to their conception, with 
myriads of Buddhas surrounding him, sits this one dis- 
coursing on religion. His name means light, because 
he is substantially light, illuminating every part of his 
domain. He is of boundless age, immortal, and all his 
people are enjoying immortality." This Western Para- 



88 The Cross and the Dragon. 

dise beyond the sunsets of this world, '' contains four 
precious things or wonders. It is a kingdom of extreme 
happiness, with fulness of life and no sorrow to mar. 
Sevenfold rows of railings or balustrades, sevenfold 
rows of silken nets, and sevenfold rows of trees hedge 
in the country. In the midst of it are seven ponds, the 
water of which possesses eight qualities. It is still, it is 
pure and cold, it is sweet and agreeable, it is light and 
soft, it is fresh and rich, it tranquillizes, it removes hun- 
ger and thirst, it nourishes all roots. The bottom of 
these ponds is covered with sands of gold, and around 
them are pavements made of precious stones and metals, 
and pavilions built of richly colored transparent jewels. 
There are beautiful flowers of sweetest aroma, beautiful 
birds with enchanting music, and at every breath of 
wind, the very trees on which these birds rest join in 
the chorus, shaking their leaves in trembling accord of 
sweetest harmony. The silken nets join too. This 
music is songs without words, its melodies speak to the 
heart, but they ever discourse ot Buddha, Dharma, and 
Senga." This conception of the Western Paradise is 
not known to southern Buddhism, its name even does 
not appear ; and considering its comparatively modern 
appearance, it is not unreasonable to conclude that they 
have borrowed the description of the New Jerusalem, 
varied it to suit their purposes, and incorporated it in 
their creed. Although some trace of it appeared at an 
earlier date, it was not until the fifth century that it as- 
sumed its present form. The great Chinese traveller and 
WTiter on Buddhism, Fa-hien, who travelled through 
India about 400 A. D., for the special purpose of investi- 



BuddJiism in China. 89 

gating the system in its home, found no trace of it ; and 
about 630 A. D. Huen-tsang, another eminent authority 
on the subject, travelled extensively for the same pur- 
pose, but is significantly silent. It seems to have origi- 
nated in Cashmere, receiving, perhaps, some Persian 
coloring, and finally taking shape in the conception of 
a conscious happy existence, quite the reverse of the 
usual idea of Nirvana or absorption into non-existence. 
The Chinese Kwan-yin, or Goddess of Mercy, was 
not known to Buddhism in its original form; and the 
attributes ascribed to her are those belonging of right to 
the Saviour. " Great in pity, great in compassion, sav- 
ing from misery, saving from woe ; ever listening to the 
cries that ascend from the earth," is the usual ascription. 
This deity, usually a woman, but sometimes a man, is 
now the real head of the Buddhist Church in China. 
It was only after great effort that the Buddhist canon 
was completed in 1410 A. D., and the modern edition, 
known as the '' Great Northern Collection," was prepared 
from 1573 to 1 619 A. D., so that it is only within the 
last three hundred years that the Chinese have had a 
complete canon of the Buddhist scriptures. Buddhism 
relegates worship to the priesthood which constitutes 
the church. Their prayers are not prayers in our sense 
of the word. They are forms of words that are sup- 
posed to work some magical effect. They are extracts 
from sutras, or special books containing charms, and 
arc often statements of the doctrines of the mercy, wis- 
dom, and glory of Buddha. Music always accompanies 
these recitations, in the form of beating cymbals or drums 
or bells, and knocking on wooden fish. 



QO The Cross and the Dragon. 

As a system it has seen the heyday of its glory, and 
is now far on the way to decay. Striking evidences of 
its widespread acceptance and power are seen in many 
places. In Canton there have been many monasteries 
with remarkable histories, but most of them are now in 
ruins. From the tenth to the twelfth century Buddhism 
was in the zenith of its power, being not merely popular 
as a religious system, but exercising a great influence 
over literature as well, so that many of the books of that 
period are strongly colored by its peculiar doctrines. 
Statesmen and poets were its exponents, and gave it 
their enthusiastic support. The poet-statesman Su- 
tung-po, one of the most remarkable men of his time, 
was a strong believer in its teachings, making a point 
of visiting eminent shrines in his travels, and always 
leaving some mark of his sojourn. Fifteen miles west 
of Canton, on the rocky island of Kam-Shan, is an old 
monastery, where the tradition of his visit is still pre- 
served. On his way from some official post he stopped 
for the night at the foot of the hill on which the shrine 
is placed, and had a dream, in which some one ap- 
proached and offered him a dish of sesamum cakes. 
In the morning, as he ascended the height, he met an 
old monk, from whom he learned that it was the anni- 
versary of the birth of the founder of the cloister, 
whose name was Tak-wan, and as he had been ex- 
ceedingly fond of sesamum cakes in his life, they al- 
ways prepared a supply of these cakes to offer on 
his shrine. The statesman astonished the monk by 
exclaiming, " Then I am Tak-wan ; these cakes were 
offered to me." He composed some Hnes on the spot 



Buddhism in China. 91 

to commemorate this remarkable occurrence. They 
run as follows : — 

" At Kdm-Shan's ancient shrine, that stands 
Above the river's rocky peaks, 
The barge with white-haired Tung-po lands ; 
The words he to the mild monk speaks 
Declare that in a former life 
He, as Tak-wan, dwelt in this place ; 
And now his mind, with old scenes rife, 
Recalls the hills' pavilioned grace." 

From this anecdote the belief has gained prevalence 
that Buddhist priests who are faithful to their vows will 
be re-born as statesmen and attain high honors. It is 
difficult to arouse any enthusiasm over the Buddhism of 
the present day. The priests are indolent and ignorant. 
They come, as a rule, from the lower classes, and are 
apprenticed to older priests ; they learn in time to chant 
the prayers and go through the ritual service, but are 
ignorant of the history and meaning of the rites. They 
have no knowledge of Sanscrit, except in rare cases, 
and are often lax in morals. They are opium-smokers 
almost to a man, and are held in but little esteem by the 
people. To be called a Wo-Sheung, or priest, is a term 
expressive of contempt at one's stupidity and general 
worthlessness. It does not require much faith or con- 
secration to become a monk, and the temples are often 
asylums for very objectionable people. 

Their temples are often fine structures, and many of 
them are built in romantic spots among the hills over- 
looking some sheet of water, with deeply shaded 
dells and cascades flowing down. In Canton there are 



92 The Cross and the Dragon. 

several large institutions which are richly endowed. 
The Ocean Banner Monastery, familiarly known as the 
" Honam Joss House," covers several acres of land, 
and has an endowment sufficient to support a hundred 
or more monks. The grounds reach down to the river, 
and entering a small gate you pass up an avenue of 
trees to a square tower-like building which forms the 
entrance to the enclosure of the monastery. On either 
side of the lofty gateway are two colossal images of 
most forbidding aspect. They are the four Kings of 
Heaven, who preside over the four cardinal points 
of the compass, having power to interfere with the 
affairs of the world, and to bestow great happiness 
on those who honor the Three Precious Ones. Their 
names are To-Man, *' the much-hearing one ; " Chi- 
Kwok, " controller of nations ; " Tsang-Cheung, " in- 
creased grandeur; " and Kwong-Muk, " large eyes." 
Beyond this is the Precious Hall of Great Heroes, in 
which are enshrined the Three Precious Ones, in gilt 
images of immense height, sitting on lotus flowers, 
while on either side are arranged the eighteen arhans, 
or early missionaries. In this hall is performed the 
ritual service morning and evening, from thirty to 
forty priests in yellow robes chanting an elaborate 
hturgy in sonorous monotone, kneeling, bowing, pros- 
trating themselves, and marching in procession around 
the hall. Behind the main hall is another, usually 
closed, with a marble pagoda, beautifully carved, and 
covering some sacred relic of Buddha. Other shrines 
are seen to the Goddess of Mercy, to Wei-toh, the pro- 
tector of the Buddhist religion; and to the Laughing 



Buddhism i7t China. 



93 



Buddha, or, as his name, Mi-loi-fat, means, "the Buddha 
to come," it being said that after three thousand years 




A BUDDHIST ABBOT. 



he will appear and open a new era. Extensive halls 
and dormitories for the accommodation of monks and 



94 The Cross and the Dragon. 

visitors are shown. The refectory is set with long 
tables, and the kitchen furnished with all the appli- 
ances for supplying food to immense assemblies; the 
most conspicuous object being an immense rice-kettle 
with capacity for cooking enough for three hundred 
people at once. 

The abbot of this institution is reputed to be very 
wealthy; and his private apartments, where he enter- 
tains particular friends, are fitted up in luxurious style 
with European furniture and carpets, dinner services 
and wine, while the walls are ornamented with pictures, 
some of which are of more than doubtful propriety. 

Another great Buddhist temple is the Flowery Forest 
Monastery, better known as the Temple of the Five 
Hundred Gods, so called from the great hall, where large 
gilded images of five hundred arhans are set in rows, 
each in his characteristic attitude. One of the richest 
monasteries in the city, called the Temple of Longevity, 
was destroyed a few years ago by an infuriated mob, 
excited to violence, it is said, by the reported im- 
morality of the priests. In many things the influence 
of Buddhism is still powerful. At funerals it appears in 
certain symbols ; at every landing along the rivers and 
canals, at the ends of bridges across streams of all 
sizes, and sometimes at the entrance to boats, this in- 
scription is seen, — 7iam-mo-o-ni-io-fjtt, — an invocation 
to the Buddha ot the Western Paradise. Their liturgies 
are widely used in case of sickness. Confucianists, as a 
rule, look down upon the system, and when asked will 
often give an unfavorable opinion; but the same men 
who scoff at Buddhistic rites and doctrines will in the 



Buddhism in China. 



95 



event of sickness repeat the very sutras they made 
sport of, perhaps from mere force of habit, but more 
probably from a superstitious belief in their efficacy. 

Teaching and preaching have long ceased to be prom- 
inent characteristics of the system. It secures its popu- 
larity by conforming to prevail- 
ing desires; insisting on the 
merit of good works and the 
magical power of the priests. 
By good works they mean gifts 
to monasteries and charity to 
priests. It appeals to the fear 
of moral retribution, and empha- 
sizes the doctrine of the trans- 
migration of souls, and through 
these secures a strong hold over 
the people. 

The nuns are on a par as to in- 
telligence with the monks. They 
live in separate institutions, and 
are often sent for to perform spe- 
cial services in the houses of the 
people. They shave their heads 
as the monks do, and adopt a 
dress of dark purple cloth. 

By far the most popular deity 
worshipped is the Goddess of 
Mercy. Many separate shrines 
are erected to her, and her im- 
age is the most frequent one in the houses of the 
people. She is to them the incarnation of mercy, and 




A BUDDHIST NUN. 



96 The Cross and the Dragon. 

is sometimes represented with eighty-four thousand 
hands and arms, with which she guides the lost and 
ignorant. Her titles and attributes show wherein the 
charm lies, and indicate the longings of the people for 
deliverance. In one character she appears as the giver 
of sons, and this shrine is surrounded by multitudes 
praying for this great boon. 

The moral code of Buddhism is feebleness itself be- 
side the Confucian. It is entangled with monasticism, 
with metempsychosis, and other delusions. In practical 
life its devotees are not faithful to their vows. Its mo- 
rality is higher than that of most systems. It teaches 
self-denial and the vanity of earthly things. It would 
perhaps be too much to say that Buddhism is wholly a 
curse. It has in a measure reformed some savage tribes, 
and has not been without its lessons of mercy. The 
good, however, has been more in theory than in practice. 

It is conspicuously wanting in charities for suffering 
humanity. No alms are enjoined except for the priests, 
no hospitals, no orphanages, no houses for the destitute, 
no schools or benevolent institutions of any kind. It 
offers asylums for birds and animals, and will support 
swine until they drop dead with age, and give formal 
burial to the sacred pig. It will care for turtles and 
fowls rescued from the butcher's knife, but has no place 
in its benevolence for suffering humanity. It falls sig- 
nally short in another great test, and gives no hope for 
women except as they may hope to be reborn as men. 
It leaves woman where it found her more than two thou- 
sand years ago, having brought no relief, no elevation, 
no comfort or hope. 



Buddhism in China. 97 

Comparisons have frequently been made between the 
spread of Buddhism and the spread of Christianity in 
China, and arguments drawn therefrom to prove that 
Buddhism is pecuHarly adapted to the Chinese character 
and modes of thought, while Christianity is something 
entirely foreign, and is not likely to prevail. Such argu- 
ments and inferences are unfair and illogical in the 
extreme. In studying the history of the introduction of 
Buddhism into China, we are forcibly struck with one 
fact, and that is the slow progress it made. Coming as 
it did under imperial patronage, propagated by scores 
and hundreds, and later on by thousands of missionaries, 
it was three hundred years before it gained a general 
recognition, and double that period before it could be 
considered in any wide sense a popular religion ; and 
when it did come it was in so modified a form that in 
many important points it could scarcely be recognized 
as the same religion that had spread to Ceylon and 
Burmah. It appropriated much that seemed at vari- 
ance with its own system. It adopted idols already 
worshipped, and gave them a place in its pantheon. It 
not only countenanced the worship of ancestors, but 
adopted the system in toto, setting up shrines in every 
monastery to the founders and abbots in succession. 
Yet, notwithstanding these concessions and modifica- 
tions, it was more than three centuries before it prevailed. 
Where, then, is the force of the argument that would 
by such comparisons prove Christianity a failure? We 
might contrast the two systems, and show that rather 
than give them a modified or impure Christianity we 
would give them none at all. We might show that 

7 



98 The Cross and the Drago7i, 

where Buddhism panders to and encourages false sys- 
tems already existing, Christianity maintains an attitude 
of uncompromising hostility, and ask that under such 
different circumstances at least double the time should 
be allowed for Christianity to prevail ; but we simply 
ask that an equal time be allowed to each, — nay! let 
Christianity have one century where Buddhism has 
three, and we will abide by the results. 

Another comparison between Buddhism and Chris- 
tianity has been suggested. On the last day of the year 
A. D. 68 the first Hindoo missionary arrived in the capital 
of China, coming, as was believed, in answer to a vision 
from heaven. He saw the Emperor, — an honor reserved 
only for the highest officials, — was entertained in the 
office of the White Horse, — so called because the em- 
bassy that escorted him had ridden all the way from Cabul 
on white horses, — and was installed as spiritual guide 
and instructor to the ruler of that great empire. Thir- 
teen years previous to that event two missionaries, in 
answer to a divine call, crossed the dividing waters and 
entered, the first Christian teachers to the continent of 
Europe. Contrast the reception of Paul and Silas-with 
that of the Buddhist teacher in China as they were 
whipped and imprisoned in the city of Philippi ; contrast 
the results of their missions. Buddhism has covered 
China with temples and monasteries, overrun the land 
with an ignorant and indolent priesthood, and enslaved 
the people by a host of delusions and superstitions ; while 
Christianity in the same period has covered Europe and 
America with churches, schools, hospitals, and charitable 
institutions of every kind, and has been the constant 



Bicddhism in China, 99 

friend and patron of learning and all intellectual progress. 
These two systems have met in China, and it becomes 
the mission of Christianity to repair the desolations of 
Buddhism and give to the people the sympathy and 
relief they long for, but vainly seek from creatures of 
their imagination. 



lOO The Cross and the Dragon, 



CHAPTER VI. 

TAOISM. 

TAOISM takes its name from the word Tao, " Reason " 
or *' Truth ; " a word around which a mass of incoher- 
ent theories and speculations cluster. The most accom- 
plished scholars have failed to make clear the exact 
meaning of this important word. It has been used to 
translate the Logos of the New Testament, and is one 
of the synonymes for Truth used in preaching the gospel. 
Accepting the word Reason as the correct rendering 
of the term, the adherents of this sect have been called 
Rationalists ; and maintaining that Truth is its nearest 
correspondent, they could with equal propriety be char- 
acterized as seekers after truth. 

This system, which divides with Buddhism the honor 
of being a popular religion, is purely a native of the 
country. Its founder, Lo-tsz, was a contemporary of 
Confucius. He composed a remarkable book, called 
the " Canon of Truth (or Reason) and Virtue," in which 
the principles of his system are set forth. This book 
continues to the present day to be the great standard 
work for all his adherents, but is too abstruse and philo- 
sophical to suit the mind of the people in general. 
Although contemporaneous, there seems to have been 
little intercourse between Confucius and Lo-tsz. They 



Taoism. loi 



exchanged visits and had several conferences, but httle 
sympathy was manifested. The great sage either failed 
to comprehend the abstruse reasonings of the early 
transcendentalist, or was so little impressed by their 
practical value that he scarcely mentions the name of 
their author ; while the philosopher, soaring in the clouds, 
seems to have rather despised the simple but deeply 
practical themes and precepts of the sage. Succeeding 
generations have given no uncertain answer as to which 
they prefer. The teachings of Confucius have been 
accepted in their original form almost without the 
change of a word, while Taoism has been changed and 
modified, passing through many grades of transfor- 
mation until it is now the exponent of the grossest and 
most dangerous superstitions among the people. Tao- 
ism reached the highest point in its career during the 
Han dynasty, in the first centuries of the Christian era, 
when the keenest minds of the time were employed in 
expounding its doctrines. Its great champion was 
Chang-tsz, who is to-day more highly esteemed even 
than the founder of the system himself His writings 
are much more lucid and attractive, and abound in sen- 
tentious sayings. Even at that early period Taoism had 
drifted away from its original tenets, and busied itself 
chiefly with magic, alchemy, and kindred matters, lay- 
ing stress upon the virtue of hermit life, and seeking 
for drugs and elixirs that would give immortality. 

In its original form it was a philosophical system of 
no mean pretensions. Its ground principle was materi- 
alism; it proclaimed the eternity of matter, and teaching 
the spontaneous origin of the world, shut out all divine 



I02 The Cross and the Dragon. 

agency from the creation of the universe. It professed 
to be in search of the pure and the true, and set forth 
in some instances noble conceptions of higher existence. 
Everything centres around the two words, Tao^ " Truth " 
or "■ Reason," and Teh, "Virtue; " and many of the brief 
chapters of the original work are occupied in striving to 
define these abstract terms, and set forth their relations to 
each other. In his definitions of Tao, Lo-tsz is reaching 
after the unknown. He says : ** The Tao that can be ex- 
pressed is not the eternal Tao ; the name which can be 
named is not the eternal name. The nameless [being] is 
before heaven and earth ; when named it is the mother 
of all things." The main object of the philosopher seems 
to be the inculcation of personal virtue, and its relations 
are thus set forth : " The visible forms of the highest 
Teh Q Virtue ') only proceed from Tao; and Tao is a thing 
impalpable, indefinite." The high and practical nature 
of the instruction in the following is evident: ''The 
perfect man has no immutable sentiments of his own, 
for he makes the mind of mankind his own. He who 
is good I would meet with goodness ; and he who is 
not good, I would still meet with goodness; for Teh 
(* Virtue ') is goodness. He who is sincere, I would meet 
with sincerity; and he who is insincere, I would still 
meet with sincerity; for Teh ('Virtue') is sincerity." 
Their theory of material things was that the coarser 
parts of matter descend and form the earth and inani- 
mate things, while the refined essences of one eternal 
matter tend upward and, possessed of life and individu- 
ahty, wander through space in freer, purer life, having 
their abodes in stars, which not only look down upon 



Taoism. 1 03 



the world, but have direct and powerful influence upon 
men and things. The body and soul of man are but 
matter in grosser or more refined forms. 

The pure philosophy of early Taoism is not studied 
now to any great extent. Few can be found who can 
give any intelligent explanation of the text of their 
sacred canon. Even alchemy, which was in some re- 
spects its leading characteristic in the Han period, has 
disappeared, no great magicians equal to those of that 
period being found in these later times. It is with diffi- 
culty that the identity of the system is preserved through 
all the changes it has undergone. 

In their theory of the composition of matter, five 
primary substances are given, — metal, wood, water, fire, 
and earth, — which arc combined in all the various forms 
of the outward creation. Each of these elements is 
believed to exist in a pure, sublimated form in the five 
planets; Venus, according to this theory, being com- 
posed of metal, Jupiter of wood, Mars of fire. Mercury 
of water, and Saturn of earth. From this theory a 
species of astrology grew up in early times, which is 
still adhered to. The planets and heavenly bodies are 
supposed to have a mysterious influence over the lives 
of men ; and it becomes a matter of great importance 
to cast one's horoscope, to determine the conjunction of 
stars at the hour of birth, and their consequent influence 
over one's life and fortune. 

The popular conception of Taoism is found in a com- 
paratively recent work called, " Sau-shan-ki, " '' Records 
of Researches concerning the Gods," in which Lo-tsz, 
the founder, is represented as having existed as a living 



104 The Cross and the Dragoii, 

principle, pervading the great void of space, prior to 
creation, and passing through evolutions and transfor- 
mations appeared successively in personified form in three 
great deities, ages elapsing between each successive 
reappearance. After the creation of men he is said to 
have appeared at various times in the form of kings or 
statesmen, and to have exercised great influence upon 
the world, though men were not aware of his existence. 
His appearance as the philosopher Lo-tsz is represented 
as occurring in a miraculous manner. Descending from 
heaven on a sunbeam appeared a ball of various colors, 
which fell into the mouth of a sleeping virgin, and after 
a period of more than eighty years had elapsed Lo-tsz 
was born. His remarkable appearance may be surmised 
from the description that at birth his hair was already 
white with age, and he accordingly received the name 
of Lo-tsz, which means " the old boy." The history of 
Taoism reveals one continuous stream of myth and 
legend. The imagination of star-struck magicians has 
run riot in the wildest vagaries which the love of the 
marvellous could suggest. Nothing has come amiss in 
this colossal credulity, that revels in magic, charms, sor- 
cery, and every form of delusion. It found congenial 
soil in Canton, to which it spread in the second century. 
The country, then but sparsely populated, the dense 
forests and wild mountains, presented a most inviting 
field for the supernatural. Its stronghold has always 
been in the Loh-fow Mountains, a remarkable group of 
peaks, reaching at the highest point three thousand five 
hundred feet above the sea, about seventy miles east of 
Canton. There, on the densely wooded slopes, with 



Taoism, 105 



gorges, grottos, precipices, caves, and a wonderful 
variety of medicinal herbs, Taoism, in its later develop- 
ment, has found a permanent home. The professed 
aim of all its adherents is to attain to the state of Sin- 
yan, or genii, a rank of immortals lower than the gods, 
but blessed beyond earthly conception. The means of 
attaining this state are fasting, repetition of liturgies, 
and the use of magic elixirs, the discovery of the latter 
being facilitated by a life of ascetic seclusion and com- 
munion with Nature. To sincere devotees Nature is 
supposed to reveal her secrets ; and the aid of superior 
beings is sometimes granted, in the mixing of these 
wondrous draughts. In the Loh-fow region, Kot-hung, 
celebrated in all their books, attained immortality. The 
place of his meditations, the point of his ascension, the 
spot where he dropped his shoes, are all pointed out ; 
while his earthly garments, wondrously transfigured, are 
seen spread over the mountain side in the variegated 
foliage of autumn. His own immediate disciples were 
not a few, and the report of his apotheosis attracted a 
larger number; so that the original monastery soon 
proved too small for their accommodation, and others 
had to be built. Gradually the hills were covered with 
them, most of them remaining until the present day. Not 
only were the romantic spurs and ravines of the hills 
possessed, but large tracts of rich land adjoining were 
appropriated, so that most of these institutions are self- 
supporting. The largest at the present time, So-liu-kun, 
is on the north side of the mountains, and is a magnifi- 
cent structure, strongly built and richly ornamented. 
It is situated in a most attractive position, and is patron- 



io6 



The Cross and the Dragon, 



ized by the dite of Canton and the neighboring cities. 
The routine life of their priests is much hke that of 

the Buddhists, from whom, no 
doubt, they copied many of 
their forms. Their system of 
monastic Hfe is said to ante- 
date the introduction of Bud- 
dhism, but many of the details 
of their service are so similar as 
to suggest a common origin. 
The priests are usually mar- 
\\ I \ I ried, but separate from their 

(\ ;vV\iiAJf \i 1 families while residing in the 
cloisters. They only shave the 
head in part, and coil the hair 
on the top, where it is fastened 
with an ivory skewer. The 
old priests are often very ven- 
erable in appearance, with long 
white beards and flowing robes 
of dark blue cloth. They per- 
form daily liturgical services in 
the cloisters, and are employed 
in special rites at funerals, or in 
houses of mourning to repeat 
prayers for the dead, and utter 
good-luck chants at feasts, at 
the laying of foundations for 
houses or temples, or on any occasion that may come 
up. They are equal to every emergency, and turn their 
magical powers to account in numberless ways. Many 




A TAOIST PRIEST. 



Taoism, loy 



of the leading men of the sect are scholars, and schools 
of high grade are sometimes found in their monasteries. 
At Loh-fow are several, where young men of wealthy 
families have the best opportunities of pursuing their 
studies, amid the seclusion and charm of most romantic 
natural surroundings. The mass of the priests, how- 
ever, as they have come under my observation, are very 
repulsive, — low in character, ignorant, some of them 
evidently fugitives from justice, speaking a jargon of 
English and other languages that revealed anything 
but a savory past. They search the hills for medicinal 
herbs, and have the secrets of many specifics which 
they are not willing to divulge. They are proficient 
herbalists, and if necessary can tell the abode, habits, 
and use of nearly every plant in their mountain retreat. 
Little satisfaction is found in conversing with them, and 
only the most glaringly exaggerated accounts of super- 
natural beings and appearance reward inquiry into their 
belief. The ** History of the Loh-fow Mountains," a 
bulky work in twelve volumes, is a perfect storehouse 
of the marvellous; and from accounts there given, 
every inch almost of the mountain district is covered 
with a thick and variegated garment of legends and 
myth, surpassing all ordinary credulity. 

Taoism takes its place beside Buddhism as *a system 
of idolatry. The images that fill its temples are usually 
smaller than those in Buddhist halls. They have their 
Trinity of the " Three Pure Ones," occupying the most 
prominent place, and another group called the " Three 
Rulers," of Heaven, Earth, and Sea, said to have been 
three brothers, who for their remarkable gifts were 



io8 The Cross and ihe Dragon. 

raised to this dignity. Nearly all their gods are dei- 
fied heroes or hermits who have attained immortality. 
Dragons play a prominent part in Chinese mythology, 
and so high are their conceptions of these creatures, 
that their name is used to set forth the superiority and 
dignity of the Emperor, who is seated on the Dragon 
Throne ; and on the national flag, which is of imperial 
yellow, appears the dragon in blue, the protecting genius 
of the Empire. 

Lui-kung, the god of thunder, is much feared, and is 
represented with wings and claws, holding a hammer 
and drum in his hands with which to produce thunder. 
Whatever is struck by Hghtning is supposed to be the 
special object of his wrath, and is said to be smitten by 
the '' thunder-god." In the Taoist pantheon the most 
popular deity is Yuk-wong-Sheung-tai, sometimes called 
the Chinese Jupiter. He was an ancient magician, and 
was exalted to his present position in the Tang dynasty 
about one thousand years ago. He was, according to 
the myth, the son of a king in a previous state of exist- 
ence, but instead of succeeding to the throne chose a 
hermit's life, and after eight hundred transmigrations 
and much endurance, attained the rank of the " Golden 
Immortals." After a million more transmigrations he 
became Yuk-ti, the Emperor of all the Immortals. The 
god of medicine, called Cheung-Sin, was a physician in 
the Sung dynasty about seven hundred years ago. He 
is represented in Chinese paintings with bow and arrows, 
shooting at the moon. 

The present head of the Taoist sect is Cheung-tien-sz, 
the wizard who lives in Lung-fu Mountain, in the prov- 



Taoism. 109 



ince of Kiang-Si. He is the hierarchal chief, descended 
in the great Hne of wizards from Cheung-to-ling of the 
Han period. The legend of the latter's elevation to the 
headship of the sect is given as follows : '* He was 
engaged on Ho-ming-shan, * the mountain where the 
crane calls,' in preparing the Dragon and Tiger Elixir, 
and there met a spirit who informed him that in Pe- 
sung Mountain was a stone house where writings of the 
three Emperors and a liturgical book might be found. 
By getting these and performing the course of disciphne 
laid down in them, he would gain power to ascend to 
heaven. In obedience to this advice he dug in the 
earth and found them, and following the course of dis- 
cipline prescribed, was able to fly, to hear distant sounds, 
and to leave his body. He afterwards met with Lo- 
kwan, the founder of the sect, and received from him 
charms, liturgies, a sword and seal ; then passing through 
one thousand days of discipline, in which he was visited 
by the goddess Yuk-nii, * the Gemmy Maiden,' who 
taught him to walk among the stars, he proceeded to 
fight the king of demons, to divide the mountains and 
sea, and to command the thunder to come and go. 
All the demons fled before him, leaving no trace behind. 
After this wondrous victory the wind and thunder were 
reduced to subjection, and the various divinities came 
with eager haste to acknowledge their faults. In the 
course of nine years he gained power to ascend to 
heaven and prostrate himself before the Three Pure 
Ones. He afterwards settled in the Lung-fu (Dragon 
and Tiger) Mountains, where his descendants have ever 
since resided, possessed of great honors and emoluments 



no The Cross and the Dragon, 

as his hereditary representatives." They profess power 
to expel demons, and to protect by charms. The 
sword for the expulsion of demons is the one which has 
come down from the Han period, a priceless heirloom. 
He who wields it can catch the demons and shut them 
up in jars. These jars are sealed with a magic charm. 
It is said that in the home of the chief wizard, in the 
mountains referred to, there are many rows of such jars, 
all of them holding demons in captivity. To secure 
the services of this great wizard is an expensive affair, 
and only those who can afford to pay a thousand ounces 
of silver can enjoy the luxury of feeling that through 
his agency the demons that trouble them are subjugated. 
This chief assumes the state and mimics the ceremonies 
of the Imperial Court; he confers buttons, and has 
about thirty persons constituting his court. Taoists 
come to him from various cities and temples to receive 
promotion. He invests them with titles, and gives them 
seals of office. They have power similar to his, and 
can subdue demons by posting charms on the doors. 
He is in their estimation a spiritual emperor, and ad- 
dresses memorials to Yuk-ti, the ruler of all in heaven. 
Taoism has been the favorite system with the rulers of 
China, and its forms have been adopted in the state 
worship. The other world is represented in many re- 
spects as a counterpart of this ; and in the various state 
temples throughout the Empire, this chief wizard ap- 
points certain spirits to preside for a term of years; 
thus a few years ago the presiding divinity in the great 
city temple in Canton was said to be the spirit of the 
celebrated commissioner Lin, who played so conspicu- 



Taoism. 1 1 1 



ous a part in the war of 1841. Buddhism and Taoism 
have each borrowed from the other, and often make 
common cause where each has claims to sustain. 

Taoism is responsible for the gross superstitions and 
belief in malevolent spirits that prevail throughout the 
country. It has filled the air with fairies, sprites, and 
demons, and attributes diseases of various kinds, fever, 
madness, drowning, accidental death, suicide, and all 
kinds of evils and discomforts, to the agencies of these 
malevolent beings. The priests do all they can to foster 
such delusions, and insist that charms are necessary to 
protection ; so that on almost every door strange figures 
or mysterious characters are posted, the Taoist's charms 
against malign influences. In case of an epidemic or 
any wide-spread fear of evil, they make capital of the 
superstitious fears of the people, and enrich themselves 
from the sale of charms and amulets. They are a great 
blight to the country, and the enemies of all enlighten- 
ment. They are responsible for the absurd charges 
brought against the Martyred Sisters of Mercy in Tien- 
tsin. It was due to their influence that the excitement 
of the "gods and genii " powder became so violent and 
wide-spread, sweeping like a wave over Canton and the 
adjoining province, and proving so disastrous to mission 
work. The story in this case was that a certain powder 
known as the *' Shan-sin," or " gods and genii " powder 
had been prepared and distributed by Christians. When 
placed in wells and springs it so impregnated the water 
that those who drank or used it in any form would suf- 
fer great tortures and in a few days die. Taoists, by 
their belief in magic powders, by their love of the 



112 The Cross and the Dragon. 

marvellous, and by their practice of the grosser forms of 
superstition, keep alive all the absurd delusions already 
existing and add constantly to their number, and thus 
prepare the way for movements that would otherwise 
be impossible. History presents but few contrasts more 
striking than that between ancient and modern Taoism. 
It is truly a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous; 
from the heights of speculative philosophy to puerile 
attempts to shut up imps in jars, or ward off dis- 
ease by a fantastic charm on the door. It has done 
more to rivet the chains of superstition than any other 
system, while it appeals to the credulous side of man, 
substantiating every marvellous tale by a host of legends 
and traditions. It is a dangerous and inflammable ele- 
ment, working against the peace and order of every 
community. A general diffusion of Christian knowl- 
edge is needed to break its thraldom. Education, the 
teaching of science, will prove a powerful remedy to 
deliver the people from the bondage of this mass of 
lying delusions which Taoism has propagated during 
the centuries past and still fosters. Besides the distinc- 
tive deities of Buddhism and Taoism, there are many 
others worshipped, some of them the most widely popu- 
lar. Taoism has taken most of them under its patron- 
age, so that a notice of them in this connection is not 
out of place. They are chiefly deified heroes, wor- 
shipped locally at first, and gradually becoming popular 
throughout the land. Of these Kwan-Kung, the god of 
war, is the most widely known. He was a celebrated 
character in the time of the Three States, about the 
third century, and his exploits are recounted at length 



Taoism. 1 1 3 



in the historical novel called the " History of the Three 
States." He has been elevated from time to time, until 
he now holds the position of military patron to the 
whole Empire. On account of his courage, ability, and 
power to overcome all opponents, he is set up as the 
patron deity of many shops and guilds, and is the deity 
chiefly worshipped by the Chinese in America. 

To-ti, the earth-god, and his wife are the most common 
objects of worship all over the land. Their little squat 
images, set in small shrines, are seen by the doorways, at 
the entrance to streets and villages, by the roadside, and 
in the hills. They preside over the ground, and must 
be propitiated to secure luck in any particular locality. 
They are the least in dignity, but their universality gives 
them prominence and secures constant worshippers. 

In shops the favorite deity is Tsoi-Shan, the Chinese 
Plutus, or god of wealth. Sometimes an image or pic- 
ture is enshrined, but more frequently the great letter, 
Tp; ^ '' god," is placed over the altar, the idea being 
that all benefits to be derived from the gods centre in 
the one concrete blessing of wealth ; and the inscription 
on the little shrine at the door-way will be, " May the 
earth-god lead the god of wealth into the shop." 

Of those which have a purely local importance Hong- 
Kung is a good example. A native of the Nam-hoi 
district, he lived near the close of the last or the begin- 
ning of the present dynasty. He was a petty pedler, 
buying up old brass, iron, glass, and anything that 
came in his way, and selling small articles in return. 
Possessed of an exceedingly fiery temper, he was very 
arrogant and tyrannical when he had power. In his 

8 



114 ^/^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

town there was a widow left defenceless, with some 
property and of attractive personal appearance. One 
of the neighboring gentry took advantage of her un- 
protected position and defrauded her of money and 
property, with ulterior designs on her person. She 
appealed to the magistrate, but having no influence and 
her enemy putting in a counter-plea, she received no 
redress. Hong-Kung, hearing of her troubles and being 
aware of the rich man's baseness and the magistrate's 
injustice, took the law into his own hands and became 
the woman's champion. He went alone and attacked 
the rich man, cut off his head, hung it up in a conspicu- 
ous place in the town, with a paper attached saying who 
had killed him, and fled. The officers sent to arrest him, 
but having no settled abode, they could not find him. 
After much searching they came upon his tracks, which 
led them into a duck-roost. At first the tracks were 
plain, but soon the multitude of ducks' feet had so 
trampled the soft earth as to obliterate every trace, so 
they gave up the search. He had fled to the moun- 
tains ; but the magistrate was making it unpleasant for 
the widow. After a year had passed Hong-Kung was 
seized with a fatal sickness, but before his death man- 
aged to reach the magistrate's office at night and 
charged him with fierce energy to desist from his unjust 
persecution, saying, " I slew the man ; I am now as a 
dead man, and command you to take up the widow's 
cause." In consternation at this ghostly visit the magis- 
trate complied, and justice was done. Gradually people 
began to pray to his spirit, and a small temple was 
erected to him. He is now one of the most popular 



Taoism. 1 15 



deities near Canton, many large temples being erected 
to him. His disciples rigidly abstain from eating duck- 
meat or ducks' eggs, in grateful remembrance of the 
service rendered by the ducks in preserving his life. 

In several places along the river temples are erected 
to Fook-poh, one of the early generals who crossed the 
Ridge and conquered the south country. He built large 
double-decked boats in which he descended the river to 
Canton in the time of the early Hans, and worship is 
now offered at his shrine by boatmen and travellers. 

In these temples worship is offered in various ways, — 
by the burning of incense, wax-candles, gilt paper, and 
prostrations. Entering a temple the worshipper takes 
up two semi-oval blocks of wood, and bowing before 
the idol, repeats a form of prayer for good luck, and 
then tosses them into the air. The position in which 
they fall is closely watched, and if they fall with one 
oval side and one flat side up they are satisfied. A 
cylindrical cup is next taken, in which are twenty or 
thirty bamboo slips all numbered ; and kneeling on a mat, 
after repeating the usual formula for luck, the cup is 
held at an angle and shaken until one of the slips falls 
out. This is taken to the temple-keeper or his assist- 
ant, who examines the number, and opening a drawer 
marked with the name of the idol worshipped, hands out 
a written answer corresponding to the number presented, 
for which a fee is charged. Unable to read the answer, 
it is taken to a fortune-teller, who gives his interpreta- 
tion of it, and exacts another fee. If not satisfactory the 
process is repeated. When sickness comes it is con- 
sidered more important to consult the idol than the 



ii6 The Cross and the Dragon. 

doctor, the disease being attributed to the malevolence 
of wandering spirits, which the idol, it is thought, can 
subdue. 

In Canton there are one hundred and twenty heathen 
temples, some of them large and expensive. At these 
worship is performed continually. Some of them are 
thronged with worshippers, such as the Temple of Kam- 
fa, the patron goddess of women and children, and Kun- 
Yam, the goddess of mercy, in her character as the 
bestower of sons, and as the merciful one. Tien-how, 
the empress of Heaven, the goddess of sailors and sea- 
going people, and Hung-Shing, the great god of the 
southern ocean, who, formerly a native of Canton and 
attaining great repute as a local deity, has since received 
imperial recognition and worship, are very popular. 

The great scene of idolatrous worship is in the City 
Temple, or, as it is known among foreigners, the Temple 
of Horrors. The sights about this temple are charac- 
teristic. Fronting on one of the main streets, it is 
reached by a broad door destitute of any ornamenta- 
tion, excepting two great paper figures posted on either 
side. Around the entrance are throngs of beggars urg- 
ing with ceaseless pertinacity their wants, appealing to 
each passer-by to insure favor with the gods by bestow- 
ing alms on them. Inside is an open court filled with 
petty tradesmen with their wares set out on small 
stands, — venders of dried herbs, and plasters of various 
kinds, dentists with strings of hideous teeth to attest their 
proficiency, sellers of sweetmeats, books, papers, travel- 
ling shows, tricksters, jugglers, and such like. Beyond 
this court is a large gateway with fierce idols of immense 



Taoism. 117 



size on either side to guard the entrance, passing which we 
come to a larger court. On each side are five sections of 
the Buddhist hell, with horrible representations of the 
punishments inflicted in the next world. In front of each 
is a shrine with a censer full of the remains of incense, 
and an iron trough black and gorged with the debris of 
candles, paper, and other appliances of idolatrous wor- 
ship. On the platform in front of these scenes of torture 
sit scores of fortune-tellers, — old men with sly cunning 
faces, solemn doctors with great round spectacles, dapper 
fellows with an air of great shrewdness. Their customers 
are many ; and after a brief examination of the size and 
position of the ears, their distance from the eyes, and the 
contour of the head, each is suited with a character 
and a fortune. Kitchens and furnaces glow hotly in the 
face as we walk around ; steaming vessels of food and 
the sizzling of oil invite the hungry to the small tables 
set out. 

Beyond this enclosure is another lofty entrance, through 
which we pass the main portal, with images on either 
hand. To the right and left of the main hall are figures 
of the police of the gods, reproductions of the common 
idea of Chinese patrol-men ; and, to complete the resem- 
blance, their mouths are smeared with opium, under the 
belief, that as living policemen arc notorious consumers 
of the drug, their spirits, which in succession hold the 
positions which these figures represent, still retain their 
liking for it and are grateful for such offerings. To the 
right a door leads into a side court in front of a large 
room, where a professional story-teller is relating marvel- 
lous tales in dramatic style to his eager audience; and 



1 1 8 The Cross and the Dragon, 

on the left, in a similar room, a Chinese preacher is dis- 
coursing on the doctrines of the sages. In the centre is 
the main hall, in which stands the image of the patron 
deity of walled cities, blackened by the smoke of incense, 
the silken scrolls and banners all begrimed, and the 
branches of artificial flowers covered with dust. In 
front of this shrine appears a scene that must be wit- 
nessed to be understood. Scores of worshippers are pros- 
trating themselves. Delicate women, who have come in 
sedan chairs, forced by the exigencies of the occasion 
into a publicity they would otherwise shun, go through 
the ceremonies with all the trembling anxiety of those 
burdened with misery and aching for relief of some 
kind. In an immense tripod censer three feet high, long 
sticks of incense slowly consume, and wax-candles cast 
a pallid glare. From a large iron receptacle flames of 
burning paper ascend ; while with each act of devotion 
a great drum is struck to call attention to the worship. 
Idle crowds of the great unwashed press and jostle the 
worshippers on every side ; and the din of fire-crackers, 
the heavy fumes of incense, and the smoke of burning 
paper, added to all the unpleasant concomitants of a 
promiscuous Chinese assembly, are very trying to the 
nerves and sensibihties of most people. Minor shrines 
are seen on either side, in one of which stand sixty 
small images, one to the presiding genius of each year 
in the cycle. Some are raised on tiles, and some be- 
decked with gaudy red coats, the gifts of those who 
have received special favors in these particular years. 

Behind the main hall, in a second story, are the private 
apartments of the deity, with those of his wife, son, and 




mOLS IN TAOIST TEMPLE. 



I20 The Cross and the Dragon, 

daughter. This place is kept by a Taoist priest, while 
at one side is the Buddhist receptacle for money to pur- 
chase the release of animals and birds doomed to death. 
Offerings of shoes, caps, silken coverlets, and other arti- 
cles are made to the god and his family, and the floor is 
often strewn with copper cash. On the birthday of the 
god, which occurs in August, he is supposed to descend 
and spend the night in these apartments. It is an 
occasion^ of great excitement and display. The city 
gates are left open, and the crowd is something appalling. 
Women come from the country and remain in large 
numbers through the night. The floors above and be- 
low are packed with those who wish to spend the night 
within reach of the good influences supposed to accom- 
pany him when he descends. The fatigue, misery, dis- 
comfort, expense, and general worry which these poor 
deluded people undergo for the chance of some indefi- 
nite good is marvellous. The money they expend from 
their hard-won earnings in buying incense, candles, and 
charms, at sextuple the usual price in hope of securing 
favor from the popular deity, shows how frightfully 
strong is the hold superstition has over them. This 
temple is leased by the Prefect to a company at from 
four thousand to seven thousand dollars a year. In 
addition to this enormous rental, they expect and usually 
do make a large fortune from the sale of incense and 
other articles for worship, which they sell at five and six 
times the usual price and permit no other to be used. 
Of all the thousands who worship there, vtry few have 
any clear conception of what they are doing. Ask them 
about the god before whom they bow, and not one 



Taoism, 1 2 1 



in a hundred can give a lucid reply. Ask them why 
they worship him in preference to others, and they will 
say, " Oh, he is leng^ ' efficacious ; ' " and that is enough. 
Some one fancies his good fortune is due to the fact of 
his having worshipped there, and the report of his suc- 
cess leads hundreds to try for similar blessings. 

Near our mission houses, on the bank of the canal, 
was a little shrine to some inferior deity. Some one in 
passing placed a few sticks of incense on the shrine, 
and soon after became fortunate in his business. The 
report of his good fortune was industriously spread by 
those interested, and the little shrine soon became fa- 
mous. It was put in good repair, Taoist priests, in long 
crimson robes, blessed it with impressive rites and offi- 
cially recognized the deity's power, and for weeks the 
narrow street was crowded almost beyond the possibility 
of passing by the eager throngs of worshippers. 

The feehng of dissatisfaction and longing for help of 
some kind is strikingly shown in the readiness with 
which the people forsake the old and follow any new 
idol that secures the reputation of having special powers. 
The priests understand these feelings, and know how 
to supply their gods with reputations and give them 
popularity. One conspicuous feature in their treatment 
of the idols is a lack of reverence. The surround- 
ings of their temples, the accumulation of unsightly 
objects, the conduct of the people, the ease with which 
one can excite merriment by references to the idols, 
show how entirely this feeling of reverence, which we 
connect inseparably with worship, is wanting. Their 
worship is pure selfishness. Seldom does a sense of 



122 The Cross and the Dragon. 

sin have anything to do with it. Fear of temporal ca- 
lamity, longing for good luck, the desire to have sons, to 
be rich and distinguished, — these are the motives that 
prompt them. Fear of retribution is felt to some extent, 
and the indefinite hope that sin will not be punished if 
offerings are made ; but their belief in transmigration 
comes to mar all true feehngs and destroy all pure 
motives of worship. 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy. 123 



CHAPTER VII. 

ANCESTRAL WORSHIP AND GEOMANCY. 

TN the worship of their deceased ancestors is found the 
^ real religion of the Chinese. It antedates all others, 
and has come down from the most ancient times. It 
has never been supplanted, or to any great degree modi- 
fied by other religions ; but, on the contrary, each system 
that has arisen has been compelled to adapt itself to its 
requirements. It existed long before the time of Con- 
fucius, and received his sanction. It is inculcated in 
many passages in the ancient classical books ; and its 
prestige, derived from the fact of its great antiquity, is 
strengthened by the constant and universal practice of 
the whole nation during the entire course of their his- 
tory. Its hold upon the people is stronger than that of 
any other sentiment or feeling. A man may be per- 
suaded of the folly and uselessness of Buddhistic rites, 
and be led to reject the whole system, with its Bud- 
dhas, its goddess of mercy, and its Western Paradise; 
he may be convinced that Taoism is but a mass of 
deceptions made possible by the credulity of the people ; 
but he holds to the worship of his ancestors with all the 
tenacity of his nature. Although in many respects 
antagonistic to the original theory of Buddhism, it has 
been adopted in toto, and finds in the monks and nuns 



124 '^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

powerful and faithful allies. When the Jesuits came to 
China, a strong party of them, led by Matteo-Ricci, was 
in favor of compromise, and advocated the policy of 
allowing the rites of ancestral worship to be performed 
by their converts. At present it is believed in and prac- 
tised alike by Buddhists, Taoists, and Confucianists ; by 
all classes of people, representing all grades of moral and 
rehgious character and belief, from scholars of highest 
rank to the most ignorant and degraded paupers. 

It is the greatest obstacle we have to contend against 
in propagating Christianity. No compromise, of course, 
is possible ; and the advance of the Gospel arouses an 
opposition that is backed by their reverence for the 
deceased, by all the traditions of the past, and by their 
hopes and fears for the future as well as the present. 

Filial piety has been lauded as the crowning virtue of 
the Chinese, and one which Western nations would do 
well to imitate. The theory as inculcated by the ancient 
teachers is praiseworthy; they make it to consist in 
reverence for and devotion to parents and to other 
superiors in age and position. The practice of the 
present day, however, is far removed from the theory 
of the past, and consists mainly in devotion to the dead 
in the form of offerings and prostrations made before 
the ancestral tablets, at the tombs, and to the idols who 
are supposed to have jurisdiction over the region of 
departed spirits. The '' Canon of Filial Piety," dating 
back to the classical period, is still the authoritative 
guide, and the twenty-four examples so widely quoted 
and presented pictorially are used to impress its lessons; 
but, as we see every day in practical life, this filial piety 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy. 125 

is not a thing to be greatly praised. The term as now 
used is misleading, and refers chiefly to the duties to be 
performed by a son after the death of his parents; so 
that the illustration of our Lord may not be inaptly 
applied to the Chinese, and the words read, " If any 
man shall say to his father or to his mother, That with 
which I might have served you is corban, that is, it will 
be devoted to the worship of your spirits, and honor 
not his father or his mother, he shall be free." The 
faithful performance of worship before the tablets of 
the deceased will atone for a hfe of neglect. Moreover, 
the motives for this devotion are not found in reverence 
or affection for the deceased, but in self-love and fear of 
personal distress. The people are chained to the dead. 
They cannot move or act without encountering prosper- 
ous or adverse influences excited by the spirits of the 
dead. They are kept all their lifetime in fear, not of 
death, but of the dead. 

For the better understanding of the system, we will 
state briefly the theory, the form, and the effects of 
ancestral worship. 

As to its theory, it is believed that each person has 
three souls, which separate at death ; one enters the 
tablet, one remains with the body in the grave, while 
the other is arrested and imprisoned in the other world. 
They continue in conscious existence, and their happiness 
or misery depends upon the favorable location of the 
grave and upon the sacrifices of the living. They be- 
lieve that the dead are in need of, and are capable of 
enjoying, the same things they possessed or desired in 
this Hfe, such as houses, money, food, clothing, etc., and 



126 The Cross and the Dragon. 

are entirely dependent upon living relations for these 
comforts. The dead being invisible, all things intended 
for their use must be rendered invisible by burning, ex- 
cept food, whose flavor, as it arises, regales them. They 
believe it is in the power of these spirits to return to 
the abodes of the living, and reward or punish them 
for their faithfulness or neglect in offering the necessary 
sacrifices. It is also believed that dead ancestors neg- 
lected, as well as those whose families have become 
extinct, become beggar spirits in the other world, and 
are compelled, in order to sustain a wretched existence, 
to associate with the herd of hungry ghosts, who at 
certain times run up and down the world, and are de- 
pendent upon public charity. They believe that nearly 
all the ills that afiflict men, such as sickness, calamity, or 
death, are the work of these unfortunate spirits, who, in 
their attempts to avenge themselves, prey upon those 
who are not responsible for their wretchedness. It be- 
comes, then, a matter of the utmost importance for the 
living to provide for the comfort of the dead. A lucky 
site for the grave must be chosen, according to pre- 
scribed regulations; the tablet must be set up in its 
proper place, and all the forms of worship be faithfully 
observed. 

The worship offered is essentially the same as that 
performed before the idols. It consists in burning in- 
cense, candles, and gilt paper, in sacrifices of food and 
other things, and in prostrations. It is not distinguish- 
able in form from what is seen daily in the temples. 
The ceremonies required after death are minutely laid 
down ; so that it is often remarked that while a man is 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy, 127 

ill, his relatives are at a loss to know what to do for 
him, but when once he is dead they are in doubt no 
longer. In some places a cup of water is placed at the 
door, that he may take a last drink. A suit of clothes, 
real ones if they can afford it, but more frequently paper 
imitation, is burned so that he may be dressed respect- 
ably and be received accordingly as he enters the next 
world. A quantity of gilt or silvered paper is burned, 
and thus transmuted into the coin of the spirit world, 
that he may have the means to bribe, if necessary, the 
judges and jailers in the court below, experience having 
taught them that such things are not unknown in 
mundane circles. Frequently large quantities of this 
silvered paper are sent in by friends and relatives, osten- 
sibly as tokens of friendship and good will, but usually 
fear is the motive power impelling to such displays of 
generosity ; the soul of the dead man is supposed to 
be in a position to wreak vengeance on those who have 
injured him in life, hence their alacrity in propitiating 
him by such offerings. The bed, bedding, and ward- 
robe of the deceased, or more frequently paper imita- 
tions of them, are burned to secure to him the benefit 
of such necessary articles in his new abode. The coffin 
is an important afTair, and even the poorest desire to 
have one of superior quality. The burial-clothes must 
also be new and of good material, to insure him a re- 
spectful reception. It is important that these clothes 
should be put on before the soul departs; and as the 
signs of dissolution become evident, the last moments 
of the dying are often harassed by the hasty efforts of 
their friends to put on the burial-clothes. The choosing 



128 The Cross a7id the Dragon, 

of a grave is often a difficult and expensive matter; 
but of this details will be given in the discussion of 
geomancy. 

On each seventh day for seven successive weeks, the 
female members of the family indulge in loud and vio- 
lent lamentations, calling the name of the deceased, 
recounting his virtues and good deeds, the idea being 
that such demonstrations will influence the judges of 
the lower world to treat the deceased with consideration, 
in the same way that a similar course might be hoped 
to influence favorably magistrates in this world. At a 
certain period after death, the spirit is supposed to re- 
turn, bringing a host of other spirits with him ; and on 
such occasions, priests are called in to perform special 
services. The tablet of the deceased is elevated to a 
position of honor; over the walls and about the door 
are hung scrolls, inscriptions of various kinds, and de- 
vices of occult significance ; the priests, in their official 
robes, march up and down, bow, chant, ring small bells, 
wave the magic wand or brandish the spirit-quelling 
sword, and, when all is over, exact a large fee for their 
supposed invaluable services. These are the forms ob- 
served immediately after death. Subsequently, at stated 
periods, regular offerings are presented. The chief of 
these is the w^orship at the tombs, which occurs every 
spring about the time of our Easter. At this time the 
family, as numerously represented as possible, visit the 
graves, and first see that they are in good repair ; offer- 
ings are then made in the form of sacrifices of fowl, 
fish, or pork, the flavor of which is supposed to refresh 
the spirit, and of paper offerings of all sorts, which are 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy, 129 

transmitted to the spirit world by the process of burn- 
ing. At these ceremonies the eldest son must preside, 
or, in case of his death, his heir must assume the duties. 
The elder cannot worship the younger, so that it be- 
comes absolutely necessary to secure a male descendant 
to perform these ceremonies. The eldest son inherits 
a larger portion of his father's property to enable him 
to present the offerings required. If he is cut off with- 
out descendants, it is the duty of the brothers to appoint 
one of their sons to succeed him in his estate and filial 
duties. This individual, though he be but an infant in 
arms, is master of ceremonies in the ancestral worship. 
Great stress is laid upon this matter, and the priceless 
value of a son to a Chinaman is therefore easily under- 
stood. A man with many sons is counted happy, 
because the prospect of always having some one to 
perform the rites of worship to his spirit is correspond- 
ingly sure. If an only son dies, or becomes a Christian, 
which amounts to the same thing in the matter of ances- 
tral worship, it is easy to see what a calamity it appears. 
This duty of the eldest son, or the one who succeeds 
him, takes precedence of all other duties. No matter 
what position a man occupies, or what expense it in- 
volves, he is bound to perform the ceremonies required. 
Instances are given where robbers and outlaws have 
braved every consequence, and returned to perform 
these duties ; and high officials are granted leave of ab- 
sence to preside at these ceremonies when the duty falls 
to them. 

The ancestral hall is the most important and sacred 
edifice in the land. In it are the tablets of the deceased 

9 



130 The Cross a7id the Dragon. 

fathers of the clan in which their spirits reside. If both 
parents be dead, the names of both, with equal honor, 
are inscribed upon the tablet. A lamp with fragrant 
oil is always kept burning, and on certain days special 
offerings are made. The village schools are often in 
these halls, where the presence of the spirits of the de- 
parted worthies of their families is supposed to exert a 
salutary influence on the young minds. The deleterious 
effects of this system are seen in every department of life. 
It distorts filial piety, and changes it to a slavish servi- 
tude to the spirits of the dead. It turns the respect and 
reverence properly due to the deceased, into an inde- 
finable dread of their wrath. They are hampered in 
every movement, and led to attribute almost everything 
to a wrong cause. If calamity befalls a man, it is be- 
cause the grave of his father is neglected, or is in an 
unlucky situation. If a man succeeds in business or 
attains literary distinction, it is because of the good in- 
fluences exerted by the spirits of the dead. So potent 
is their belief in the power of the dead over the living 
that a man will sometimes commit suicide, so that, as a 
spirit, he can wreak vengeance on his enemy. In the 
case of women whose lives have been rendered unbear- 
able by cruelty, the most forcible argument they can 
use to secure kind treatment is the threat of suicide. 
No other system has gathered into itself so many 
powerful motives, or holds the people in such universal 
bondage to its dictates. To provide for the proper exe- 
cution and perpetuity of the rites of ancestral worship 
is the great business of all classes, from the Emperor 
down. A man's own happiness and the perpetuity of 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy. 131 

his family depend upon it. No other thought awakens 
such feelings of awe and reverence. Affection for par- 
ents, self-love, and fear, — the latter by far the strongest 
feeling, — combine in its support. Besides the original 
simple rites of worship, the priests of Buddhism and 
Taoism have made themselves necessary in giving 
knowledge of the state of the third soul, especially, 
which is supposed to go into Hades, and may be reborn 
in some other state of existence. Under the direction 
of the priests of both these leading sects, long series of 
services are necessary, in the houses or in the temples, 
to propitiate the deities under whose jurisdiction the 
spirits are supposed to be. For these services, called 
kujig-taky ** laying up merit," extortionate charges are 
often made. Cases like the following, which the people 
report, are typical of others. A leading member of a 
family moderately wealthy has lately died. The cere- 
monies prescribed have been carefully performed ; but 
information is cunningly conveyed to the family that 
their relative is in great distress. The priests are sent 
for, who, after making investigation, report that the 
spirit is in a deep, loathsome pit, where he is guarded 
by demons with swords and spears. In answer to anx- 
ious inquiries, they reply that a three days' kung-tak, 
or meritorious service, will be necessary to secure his 
release. For this service the sum of fifteen hundred 
dollars is asked. The family are dismayed at the 
amount, but as the case is an urgent one, they agree, 
after much consultation, to offer seven hundred and fifty. 
The priest refuses to accept it, and, after long debate, 
the offer is raised to one thousand dollars. The priest 



132 The Cross and the Dragon, 



reluctantly agrees to attempt it for that sum. The day- 
is appointed, the house prepared, and the relatives as- 
semble, when the priest appears with the information 
that the authorities of the spirit world utterly refuse to 
release the man for the sum promised, and that nothing 
can be done unless the additional five hundred dollars 
are secured. In despair the members of the family go 
among their friends, and borrow, at the highest rates of 
interest, the sum required. The ceremonies then go 
forward, the relatives meanwhile in a state of painful 
anxiety as to the result. Presently the priest informs 
them that a commotion among the spirits indicates that 
he is about to be released. The second day passes, 
however, without any special demonstration, but on the 
third day the relatives are informed that the unfortunate 
spirit is almost out, clinging only to the mouth of the 
pit; their power, however, has reached its limit, and 
unless three hundred dollars more are supplied, all 
efforts will be fruitless. The family by this time are 
almost frantic in their fear and anxiety ; and in terror 
for the consequences, they pawn their bracelets, jewels, 
and rich clothing, and thus contrive to get the money. 
The priest, shrewdly seeing that no more can be ex- 
torted, soon announces that the spirit has escaped from 
the pit, and a tremendous explosion of fire-crackers 
follows. Greetings are exchanged, and the priest de- 
parts for fresh fields of enterprise, leaving the family 
lighter in heart and in pocket. The release of the spirit, 
however, is only temporary; the priest only engages 
to extricate him from present difficulties. There is no 
promise of continued peace or happiness vouchsafed. 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy, 133 

As a system it is full of absurd and monstrous con- 
tradictions ; and reduced to its final motive, springs from 
the fear of the living that the dead will injure them, and 
not from any respect for, or desire to better the con- 
dition of the departed. It terrorizes the living, and 
presents a picture of the dead at once miserable and 
hopeless. The amount of expense involved is immense. 
Ancestral temples are more numerous than any other 
kind of public buildings. They are usually erected at 
a cost that is great compared with what is expended on 
their dwellings ; while the cost of the annual offerings 
reaches in the aggregate an enormous sum. It has been 
estimated, on a fair basis, that the Chinese spend directly 
on ancestral worship, one hundred and twenty millions 
of dollars every year. To this should be added the 
amount poured out under the name of public charity 
for the relief of the wandering ghosts, which makes a 
total of more than one hundred and fifty millions of 
dollars spent in vain worship of the dead, while the 
myriads of suffering and destitute in this life are left 
uncared for. Under this system, a man who will ex- 
pend ten thousand dollars on a lucky grave for his 
father, will hardly give fifty cents toward the burial of 
his infant child, under the delusion that the little spirit 
so early blasted is in some way accursed, and is, more- 
over, powerless to help or harm him. 

Ancestral worship is inseparably connected with geo- 
mancy, carth-divination, or the doctrine of Fjing-shui, 
** wind and water," one of the most gigantic systems of 
delusion that ever gained prevalence among men. It 
is believed that there is a subtle, intangible something, 



134 'The Cross and the Dragon. 

vaguely characterized as wind and water, that has a 
most powerful influence upon the fortunes and destinies 
of men. What the principles of this occult science are, 
it has been impossible to determine. Its power largely 
depends upon its intangibility ; and in the hands of de- 
signing men, playing upon the superstitious fears of the 
people and exaggerating the effect of the conjunction of 
certain natural influences upon outward events, this sys- 
tem, called geomancy, has become a mighty power, 
and has imposed a yoke of most galling bondage upon 
the people. They have associated it with ancestral 
worship so that the two are interwoven, and combine to 
form the strongest barrier to progress and enlighten- 
ment of every kind. 

In explanation of its principle, the fung^ " wind," is 
said to be the cold air which issues from the earth ; and 
it is in all cases desirable that there be no hollow or 
depression near a grave, lest this evil wind blow into it 
and disturb the coffin or the bones. 

The shui, " water," pertains to the configuration of the 
earth, which is supposed to be caused by the Dragon, 
whose shape is discerned in the uneven line of the moun- 
tains along the horizon. The home of the Dragon 
is in the water, in whose winding course he delights. 
Tracing the water to its source, we come to the meeting- 
place of the dragons, the fountain-head of the influences 
that control human destiny; hence over the gates of 
many villages may be seen the words, Ui-lung, " meet- 
ing of dragons," indicating the propitious site of the 
town. The Dragon is all-important: he has power to 
give prosperity to the land, to bring glory to the king 



Ancestral Wo7^ship and Geomancy. 135 

and honor to the sage, and is the symbol of all superi- 
ority and success in social, political, and moral affairs. 
Hence it appears that watercourses, as the haunts of 
dragons, are of the first importance, their source, direc- 
tion, or conjunction with each other, and the influences 
resulting, being determined by the geomancer's com- 
pass. If, for instance, in the case of a grave the water 
flows past a certain point of the compass, the descend- 
ants will be prosperous ; if it pass at another angle, dis- 
tress will overtake them. 

The geomancer's compass, so necessary in determin- 
ing every location, has twelve cyclical characters, analo- 
gous to the twelve signs of the zodiac, inscribed at 
equal distances around the outer circle. The first is at 
the northern extremity, and is placed at the back of the 
tomb, which, unless for special reasons, always faces 
south. The order in which the signs are read, and cal- 
culations made, is from east to west, according to the 
diurnal motion, as it appears to them, of the sun and 
stars. If, as the points of the compass are noted in 
tracing the watercourse, there be a bend or the junc- 
tion of two courses on the north, the indication is that 
the posterity if poor will be thieves, or if rich, that they 
will be robbed. If these signs appear on the northeast, 
they show that the descendants will die young, or be 
left widows, or, worse still, men without children. If 
they appear at the next point, the descendants will be 
greatly afflicted with certain diseases ; or if the bend in 
the watercourse occur to the east, they will become 
vagabonds. At the next point, disobedience and rebel- 
lion are indicated; at the next, a snake will grow of 



136 The Cross and the Dragon, 

itself in the tomb, causing restlessness to the bones of 
the deceased and consequently to the fortunes of his pos- 
terity, bringing the evil wind of unhappy destiny with 
special force to blast their prospects. And so on through 
the circuit, indicating at each successive point the evils 
of an unlucky site. The water in front of a tomb should 
never be stagnant, but always running in a stream. 
Riches and rank are supposed to flow capriciously, like 
water, from point to point ; hence so much depends on 
the course of the water as it flows by the tomb. The 
cutting of roads or the building of bridges and dams 
may alter the watercourse and disturb all the natural 
influences of the place, and a man may be ruined in for- 
tune by the displacement of a hundred-weight of earth 
behind the tomb of his grandfather. 

The power of distinguishing the virtue of difl"erent 
locations rests with a class of men called wind and water 
doctors, or, as they style themselves, professors of ge- 
ography, their geography, however, being only geo- 
mancy, or earth-divination, just as the astronomy of the 
Chinese is nothing more than astrology. They trace 
their system back to the Yik-king, one of the oldest 
Chinese writings, which, whatever may have been its 
original significance, has been widely used as a book of 
charms and divination. Traces of it are found as early 
as the Han dynasty in the first centuries of the Christian 
era, when the study of the supernatural was carried to an 
extreme, but as a system it is evidently of comparatively 
recent invention. Instances of the belief in lucky sites 
appear all along the history of the past, as when Kwok- 
puk (third century), claimed as one of its early advo- 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy. 137 

cates, visited Canton and predicted its great population 
and prosperity from its favorable location. It was not 
until the Ming dynasty (A. D. 1368-1628) that it was 
developed as a separate system. Four names are associ- 
ated with it in that period, each of which seems to repre- 
sent the head of a different school ; and the deep secrets 
of the science, so called, are handed down in the families 
of these four men. During the last two centuries it has 
received a great impetus, and appeaUng to the host of lo- 
cal superstitions and traditions, has gained a sway over 
the minds of the people that is almost incomprehensible 
to outsiders. It shows marks of each of the three great 
sects, and has its Buddhistic, Taoistic, and Confucianistic 
phases, thus^ making an ally of each of these powerful 
systems. 

The details of its workings present it in many absurd 
and puerile aspects. The Dragon is the presiding genius 
of the system, as he is the mythical protector of the 
whole Empire. According to their terminology, lung, 
" dragon," means that which rises, or is lofty in loca- 
tion, and is used to designate mountains, also in speaking 
of national and individual prosperity. Their fabulous 
dragon is a monster with scales like a crocodile, and 
five-clawed feet, but no wings, so that when he rises it 
is by his own inherent power. He has also the power 
of transforming himself at pleasure. " A flying saurian 
is an original Chinese creation, quite unlike the Greek 
dragon, which was of the serpent family." The geo- 
mancers call all high land, hmg, " dragon," and all low 
land, sJiui, "water," asserting that the Dragon rules the 
one, and the water the other. Mountain chains are said 



138 The Cross and the Dragon. 

to be the encircling dragons protecting the place. Every 
location, to be propitious, should have high land behind 
and a low plain in front; and where the high land is 
wanting, groves of trees should be planted as a substi- 
tute. The Dragon follows the watercourses, and his 
influence begins where the stream takes its rise, and re- 
mains permanently where two streams meet 

They believe in a deadly vapor called Shat-hi. This 
malicious principle enters a shop or a house, and dis- 
aster follows ; it invades a man's body, and he dies. The 
Dragon has the power to check it and preserve life. 
This murderous breath is greatly feared, and many de- 
vices are resorted to in order to prevent its entrance 
into the house. Sometimes a wall is erected before the 
door at a distance of ten feet or more, with inscriptions 
for good luck inscribed, or a screen may be placed in- 
side to check its approach. To each side of the house 
is assigned a list of lucky and unlucky objects. In 
front, for instance, it is unlucky to have a well or a 
grindstone opposite the door. The corner of a wall, a 
temple, two street crossings, or the entrance to a lane, 
are things to be avoided in front of a house. 

The "secret arrow," Om-tsin, is another name for this 
evil influence ; a narrow lane opposite the door, aflford- 
ing the best facility for shooting it directly into the 
house. To prevent it small stone lions on pillars are 
sometimes set up. At the side of many houses may 
be seen small pillars of wood, stone, or plaster, with the 
words Tai-shdn-shik-koin-tong ; that is, **Tai-shan dares 
to resist," meaning that the good influences of Tai-shan, 
one of the most celebrated of the sacred mountains of 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy, 139 

China, are invoked to give protection against the evil 
spirits. An image of Kwan-ti, the god of war, is some- 
times placed on the roof as a means of protection, and 
stone arrows used as proof against the " secret arrow." 
A temple to the east of the house is a good omen, but 
one to the north is bad, and to the west worse still. 

The following dialogue, written by a Chinese scholar, 
will give some insight into the method of securing lucky 
sites for graves, ancestral halls, houses, or villages. 

GRAVES. 

Q. When a man's parents die, is it necessary for him to 
seek a propitious spot in the hills for their burial? 

A. It is his duty with all his heart and strength to seek such 
a place. 

Q. What are the best means to employ in searching for a 
suitable location? 

A. If the deceased, in his lifetime, has already selected a 
spot, then a great outlay of money and strength may be avoided ; 
othenvise it will be necessary to engage a professor of geomancy 
who has acquired some repute, and with him make the search. 

Q. What are the tests by which a professor of ability is 
known ? 

A. He may be recommended by friends who have tried him, 
or his proficiency may be tested by having him examine some 
old tomb and show its good points : in what way literary honor 
or military prosperity has come ; in what particular years civil 
and military officers have arisen in the family ; at what time, ac- 
cording to the indications, sons have been given ; what is the 
present condition of the descendants ; also whether white ants 
have penetrated and injured the bones, or water soaked and 
destroyed them, thus cutting off the family and name. If he 
answers these without mistake he is a first-class professor, and 
such are exceedingly rare. 



140 The Cross and the Dragon, 

Q. How may the services of a professor of this kind be 
secured ? 

A. You must make him handsome presents and invite him 
to your house as a guest, and for every visit to the hills you 
must pay him not less than eight or ten dollars. 

Q. How long will it take him to decide upon a favorable 
location ? 

A. That is a matter of uncertainty. The shortest time would 
be ten days, but it may require two years or more. 

Q. What considerations would hasten or delay? 

A. If those concerned readily agree to the methods of the 
professor, and are free and generous in everything, he will also 
do his best to please them, in the hope of being recommended 
to another family ; and further, in the purchase of grave lots the 
professors get a commission of three or four per cent, so that 
under such circumstances everything may be settled in ten or 
fifteen days. If, on the other hand, those concerned think they 
know something of geomancy themselves, and bring up objec- 
tions to the professor's statements, desiring to have all good 
influences centre in one spot, he will simply accept their hospi- 
tality for a short time, and after he goes, others will be engaged 
with no better success, so that three or four years may pass be- 
fore a suitable place for burial is decided upon. 

Q. When the professor goes to the hills to search for a site, 
what method does he pursue ? 

A. Having first chosen an auspicious day, he goes in a 
sedan chair to the hill, accompanied by the man who has ground 
for sale. Having carefully inspected the position on each of the 
four sides, and noted the shape of the hill in its depressions and 
elevations, he descends and makes a circuit of the hill three or 
four miles off, carefully looking to see if there are any breaks or 
landslides, observing the direction of the watercourses with each 
bend and turn, and finally, after these preliminaries, adjusts his 
geomancer's compass to discover the position of the stars in 
relation to the spot. This is the general mode of proceeding. 

Q. How is a propitious site distinguished from its opposite ? 



Alices tral Worship and Geomancy. 141 

A. Every auspicious site is connected with some range of 
hills, that extends perhaps for hundreds of miles in a succession 
of ridges, with passes leading into level plains. At the back 
stands a lofty peak called the "rear barrier," or "back rest ; " 
on the left and right are spurs of rock called " the attendants," 
while the place for the grave appears like a great nest. The 
shape of the hill may be like an elephant, or a lion, or a phoenix, 
or an unicorn, each shape having some special significance. Be- 
low there should be the foot-protecting sand, and every grave 
where this bottom layer of sand is found indicates honor for 
posterity, and the lack of it presages dishonor. It is the true 
dragon pulse. It is said that the Dragon follows the water- 
course, and the meeting-place of waters is the meeting-place of 
the dragons, where the virtues of hill and stream are united and 
the grass ever green. Such a place being found, the conforma- 
tion cf the land on all sides is observed, and if there appear 
no outlet for the good influences in the air, it is pronounced an 
auspicious site. 

Q. What outside marks are sought ? 

A. In the distance there should be groups of mountains 
with streams of water encircling them ; in front a stretch of 
level plain, a pond, or lake. In the wider circuit, the level 
space should be large enough for ten thousand horses, and the 
watercourse be sufficient to admit a dragon boat. If the ex- 
panse be wide, children and grandchildren will multiply and be 
strong. If the front is toward the star of luck, some of the 
family will rise in office. If on the right and left the rocks as- 
sume the shapes of drums and flags, it presages military power. 
From the top of the hill the view should extend for miles, with 
mountains and streams interspersed. If the hills opposite are 
in the shape of moth wings, it indicates that beautiful daughters- 
in-law and good daughters will appear. 

Q. If the spot itself and the surroundings unite in auspi- 
cious qualities, what then should be done ? 

A. In Canton there is a distinction made between open, or 
"bright," and covered, or "dark" graves. Those excavated 



142 The Cross and the Dragon. 

from the top to the depth of from six to nine feet, and receiv- 
ing only one coffin, are called " bright " graves. When the 
opening is made from the side without disturbing the surface, 
they are called covered vaults. At present the open graves are 
most used because less expensive. In some instances the grave 
is lined with tiles, and the coffin placed in the centre, sufficient 
space being left for a man to walk around it. Such arrange- 
ments prevent its being moved or moistened by water, and this 
form is called a grave-house ; only the rich can bury in this way. 

Q. What is the proper method in making an open grave ? 

A. Choose a lucky day and an auspicious hour, and accom- 
pany the professor of geomancy to the place, taking workmen 
with you. Open the compass, adjust it with care, and ob- 
serve the direction of the needle, that you may know where 
to begin. First, worship the gods of the hill and of the earth, 
that you may not incur their wrath. This is called making the 
cave, or opening. It is easier for the professor to indicate the 
location in general than to mark the exact spot. 

Q. What are the signs of a true opening for a grave? 

A. Near the surface, one half should be sand and one half 
clay, with but few large stones. After digging four or five feet 
you may come upon a rock that cannot be moved, or upon 
water, and the place have to be abandoned. At a depth of 
three or four feet a layer of clay may be reached, and at six or 
seven feet a layer of sand, then a layer of loose stones, and then 
a layer of hard clay, yellow, red, or variegated. Beyond this, 
water will be reached. Those buried above the hard clay find 
the air warm and comfortable, and have no trouble from water 
or white ants. Good clay is a sure indication that it is a safe 
place to bury, and the quality of the clay may be tested by tak- 
ing bits from the sides and straining it through water. If no 
sand appears and the clay feels greasy to the touch, it is good. 

Q. Having bought the ground and failing to reach the proper 
clay, what is to be done ? 

A. In buying the ground you deposit the bargain money, 
with the understanding that the whole is to be paid after the 



Ancestral Worship a7id Geomancy. 143 



grave is dug. The surroundings being auspicious, you try on 
all sides until you find the clay. If a rock is encountered that 
will not yield, but through which a small opening can be made 
showing clay below, you can go beyond your own plot and 
make an entrance from the side under the rock. Such are 
called "rock-covered " graves, and are the most secure, it being 
impossible for water to reach them. 

Q. Having found the proper clay, what is the manner of 
burial ? 

A. A lucky day must be chosen. The whole family must 
give the day, month, and year of birth of each to a fortune- 
teller, who will cast their horoscopes and determine the proper 
time to proceed. 

Q. When there are a number of brothers, may not disputes 
arise? 

A. This is often a source of trouble. Different positions are 
canvassed as to their bearings upon different scions of the 
house, and the geomancer is at a loss to know what to do. 
Sometimes each brother will engage a separate professor, and 
years will elapse before the matter is settled, the coffin mean- 
while remaining in a temporary receptacle. . 

Q. Why are the dead sometimes left for years in these 
"earth pavilions" unburied? 

A. Because, as intimated above, the family may be large, 
and the brothers cannot agree upon a suitable place. Another 
reason is that after negotiations for a propitious site have been 
carried on some time, the family may become poor, the children 
and grandchildren scattered, so that the matter is dropped. 
Sometimes while the coffin rests in this temporary receptacle, 
sudden prosperity comes to the family, and believing they have 
found the place where the best influences centre, they are not 
willing to move it, lest reverses come. 

Q. What reasons are given for exhuming and removing the 
dead? 

A. A more favorable site may have been found under the 
direction of the geomancer, who is constantly suggesting new 



144 The Cross and the Dragon. 



places and pointing out defects in the old. It is too shallow, 
perhaps, or the dew and mist do not fall and rise propitiously, 
or a stream sweeps past it in an unlucky manner, or the sand 
has moved, or the watercourse changed, so that it must be ex- 
humed. If in digging, water or white ants appear, the necessity 
for immediate removal is evident ; and often it requires several 
changes before the final resting-place is found. 
Q. How are young children treated in burial? 
A. In this the pernicious effects of geomancy are seen. The 
care bestowed on the burial of parents is for personal advantage. 
When young children die they are supposed to be under the 
curse of Heaven, and are called unlucky ; and before daylight 
in the morning they are given to coolies, who, receiving only 
thirty or forty cents, carry them out and bury them at random 
in some shallow grave in the waste land near the city, treating 
them with no more respect than if they were mere animals. 

Q. It is said that quarrels and lawsuits often arise about 
burial-lots, breaking up families, exciting bitter hostilities, and 
often causing the loss of life. Whence these evils ? 

A. These evils are due to geomancy. Every one wants the 
best, but people are numerous, and lucky sites few. The rich 
have bought up broad tracts, so that the poor man who wishes 
only six feet of earth, finds no place for burial. In villages, the 
large and influential clans often use violence to secure their 
ends, and the evils are multiplied. Quarrels and bloody fights 
ensue, boundary stones are removed, the bones of the dead arc 
dishonored, and years are spent in litigation. Magistrates find 
it difficult to give judgment in such matters. Chii-fu-tsz ^ was 
involved in a case of this kind, where a man, taking an old 
stone, cut his name upon it, and surreptitiously set it up in a rich 
man's burying-lot. Ten years afterwards he brought the case 
before the magistrate, who seeing this proof of the peasant's 
right, rebuked the rich man for his oppression of the poor, 
and commanded him to vacate the place in favor of the poor 

1 The celebrated philosopher and commentator on the writings of 
Confucius in the twelfth century. 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy. 145 

peasant. When Chii-fu-tsz had retired from office he was acci- 
dentally strolling over the spot, and struck with the favorable 
surroundings of the place, exclaimed, " I have never seen any- 
thing equal to this." An old man, who happened to be standing 
near, recounted the history of the lawsuit, that had come under 
his own jurisdiction. The philosopher, incensed at the thought 
of the injustice practised, cursed the place, and forthwith there 
came violent wind, thunder, and an earthquake, and a great 
chasm yawned where the beautiful site had appeared. 

Q. What becomes of the poor who cannot afford lucky sites ? 

A. They are buried one above another in the waste places, 
no stone to mark the place, or anything to distinguish one from 
the other. 

ANCESTRAL HALLS. 

Q. In a large village and powerful clan, what is of first im- 
portance ? 

A. The ancestral hall, where the fragrant incense is ever 
kept burning. 

Q. Is it necessary that the site of this hall or temple be in 
a good geomantic position ? 

A. The ancestral hall requires the best site in the village. 
There should be an elevation to support it behind, and a level 
space in front. A professor of geomancy must be invited to 
inspect the place with his compass, noting all the bearings ; and 
having selected the most lucky of days, he begins to draw the 
plan, — the height, the depth, the breadth and length, being 
determined exactly. The hall must be constructed on his plan 
without the variation of a single point. 

Q. What ceremonies are necessary when the building is 
commenced? 

A. There are many. First, a lucky day must be chosen, 
and a notice posted informing all the families concerned. A 
list of restrictions is also published, setting forth that on certain 
days, certain people must not approach the place. Women 
during certain periods before and after the birth of children, 

10 



146 The Cross and the Dragon, 

and members of families where there has been recent death, are 
especially forbidden to come near. 

Q. In the process of the work, what ceremonies are neces- 
sary? 

A. In laying the beams it is of the utmost importance that 
it be done at the time indicated on a propitious day, it may be 
at midnight or it may be at dawn. The services of a wise and 
honorable man are engaged, who, as the time approaches, wor- 
ships the beams, repeating forms of blessings and prayers for 
luck and prosperity, the people bowing with joyful cries in rec- 
ognition of the propitious signs.^ 

Q. What are the things which specially pertain to geomancy 
in the structure ? 

A. Before the door should be an empty or lucky room ; the 
direction in which the water from streams, or springs, or rain- 
fall flows is important in determining the increase or dissipation 
of wealth; the doors must be placed so as to admit free circu- 
lation of air ; and many other signs. 

Q. The graves and ancestral halls being auspiciously placed, 
riches and honor should flow continuously to the generations 
following ; how is it that the opposite so frequently happens ? 

A. The causes are many. The surroundings of the temple 
may have changed ; houses may have been built so as to over- 
shadow it, or the trees grown and become too dense and gloomy ; 
the sand may have moved or the watercourse changed ; land- 
slides may have occurred behind ; and similar things to destroy 
the luck. Hence the professor of geomancy is in constant 
demand, and suggests changes and improvements as in the case 
of graves. 

Q. What relations and duties do the li\-ing sustain to the 
ancestral hall? 

A. The hall is for the spirits of the deceased, and sacrifices 
must be offered according to prescribed regulations. In the 
spring and autumn offerings of sheep, pigs, etc., are made. 

1 Zech. iv. 7. And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with 
shoutings, crying, Grace, grace, unto it. 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy. i^y 

From the great ancestor down through each separate branch of 
the family, sacrificial fields are entailed, from which the rent re- 
ceived goes to provide offerings. From the surplus each adult 
male receives a certain allowance, while the remainder goes into 
a general fund, to be used for rewards of various kinds and for 
the support of widows and the aged. The place for the school 
is in front of the tablets, and in the presence of the spirits of 
their ancestors, the descendants feel a constant impulse to stu- 
dious exertion. 

Q. Where streams meet a small pagoda is often seen ; what 
significance has it? 

A. It is erected at the dictates of geomancy. The place 
where the water flows out being low, with no hill or high em- 
bankment to obstruct the escape of good influences, a pagoda 
is erected to check these influences and throw them back over 
the land. Sometimes two on opposite sides of the stream will 
combine in the work of restraining the outflow of good luck. 
They are usually in the shape of a scholar's pencil, whence their 
name, Mari-pat, with an image of the god of letters inside, 
and are supposed to be especially efficacious in bringing literary 
blessings to the place. 

ERECTING HOUSES. 

Q. When a man wishes to build a house in a village, how- 
does he go about it? 

A. He first purchases a plot of ground, at a propitious dis- 
tance from the ancestral hall, idol temples, and open-air altars, 
and engaging a professor of geomancy to choose a lucky 
day, encloses the lot with a wall, and prepares to lay the 
foundation. 

Q. What are the ceremonies required in this work ? 

A. He must give public notice of his intentions, that all the 
village may know, and all trouble from personal offence or inter- 
ference be avoided. As to the height and depth of the house, 
there are fixed regulations to be observed. If, for instance. 



148 The Cross and the Dragon. 

there is a high mountain behind, and a stream of water flowing 
in front, while on each side are ridges covered with trees, then 
the house should be from twenty to thirty feet high, with a tower, 
and extend back in six or seven courts or sections, and be from 
fifty to sixty feet broad, to secure proper proportions. Only a 
very rich man could afford such a house. 

Q. As to the surroundings, what should be done ? 

A. The professor of geomancy should examine the situation 
on all sides to see that there is nothing that would prove a hin- 
drance to comfort or prosperity. 

Q. In every village there are houses fronting in different di- 
rections ; is this objectionable? 

A. The lay of the land varies in different places. For in- 
stance, there may be a hill behind and level ground in front, but 
no outlying mounds or banks of gravel to flank the spot ; then 
trees are planted to correct this defect. The houses are mostly 
on one plan, opening on the front and not at the side. If the 
hills behind form a semicircle and the wings of gravel bank ex- 
tend for some distance, with broad fields between, in which 
clumps of trees, with springs of water, are found, their houses 
may be built facing each other from opposite sides of the plain. 

Q. In opening a new village, what ceremonies are required ? 

A. This is a very difiicult matter. There should be a brook 
or river at a short distance in front and a range of hills or moun- 
tains behind ; level fields for cultivation, that the descendants 
may have space to labor and a sure dependence for food. The 
man who founds a village should have great wisdom, ability, and 
the help of the gods, to enable him to combine influences that 
will hold the descendants together. 

Q. What are considered sources of evil in front of a village ? 

A. A straight road leading directly out of it, with people go- 
ing and coming, or a small stream flowing in a straight course 
from it, are said to dissipate the good influences. An open air 
altar, a bamboo grove or groves, to have the left side low and 
the right high, are all unlucky signs. Geomancers say that on 
the left is the Green Dragon, and on the right the White Tiger ; 



Ayicestral Worship and Geomancy, 149 

therefore whether it be a grave or a house the hills to the left 
should be higher than those to the right. 

Q. Are there any means of rectifying defects in the situation ? 

A. If there is a hill with a cave in front, a wall may be put 
up to ward off the evil influence. If the left is low, plant trees 
to raise the height. If the water flows in too straight a course, 
make artificial bends and curves. If some one has built a house 
higher than yours, you can add to the height of your own, that 
your view of the stars be not obstructed. 

Q. The Emperors, with all their power, should be able to se- 
cure the best sites for graves and residences in accordance to 
the most approved methods of geomancy ; how comes it that 
they, too, meet with calamities ? 

A. It must be confessed that geomancy is not reliable. It 
springs from covetousness. In their books it is said, "The 
cave (the grave) is in their hearts, not in the hills;" "The 
happy man finds a happy burial-place." Also, " If the rich 
master of the house has happiness, the professor has eyes to 
see it." 

All this shows it to be pure deception. All the twad- 
dle about certain ranges of hills enclosing the " king- 
producing vapors" is their own invention. When a 
rebellion occurs, the first thing to be done is to dig up 
the bones of the leader's ancestors and thus destroy 
his fiing-shui, or the good influences from the graves 
that would assist him. Li-Ying-Wong-Chau and other 
noted rebels had the graves of their forefathers dese- 
crated in this way ; but in the case of the last of the 
Mings, the graves were not disturbed, yet they fell. 
Geomancy is a system without proofs. You may see a 
family, poor and miserable, paying no heed to geo- 
mancy, suddenly become prosperous. Their whole 
attention is then turned to the search of these occult 



150 The Cross and the Dragon, 

influences, when suddenly their luck changes, and they 
are reduced to poverty again. 

Of late years much time has been given to the study 
of geomancy. Scholars, especially, have busied them- 
selves with it. They have had the Flowery Pagoda 
repaired at great expense, and regard it as the " crown " 
of the whole city. In the twin spires of the Romish 
Cathedral the old Ram appears, sprouting young horns, 
presaging double honors to the city in literary and mili- 
tary examinations. All the pagodas along the river are 
said to bring luck to the city. The possession of a little 
knowledge has proved of disastrous consequences in 
many ways. 

This system of geomancy paralyzes every effort to 
improve the natural resources of the country. It roused 
the violent opposition of the people at the time of the 
construction of the telegraph line from Canton to Hong- 
Kong, making it necessary to send a guard of two hun- 
dred soldiers to protect the workmen and engineers. It 
is the greatest obstacle to the introduction of railroads, 
the construction of which would necessarily disturb the 
natural configuration of the land and excite the fatal 
wrath of the Dragon and the spirits of the dead. It pre- 
vents the opening of mines for obtaining coal, iron, 
copper, silver, and other metals known to exist in large 
quantities. The power in the hands of the geomancers 
is immense, and the large sums freely expended show 
how deep-seated is the belief of the people in their effi- 
cacy. It fosters selfishness and leads to the expenditure 
of vast sums of money, not out of respect for the dead, 
but to protect themselves from calamity. In the light 



Ancestral Worship and Geomancy, 151 



of this system we see filial piety as it now exists to 
be more selfish than generous, more calculating than 
spontaneous. It makes riches and honor depend not on 
the merits of the individual but upon some mysterious 
influence emanating from the earth. 

The. great antidote for this system of grossest error is 
the spread of Christian science. The knowledge of as- 
tronomy and physical geography will 4© much to break 
down this mass of superstitions, that have covered the 
whole face of nature with a mantle of sinister influences 
and made a man's personal virtue, as well as his outward 
prosperity, depend upon the physical surroundings of 
his house or the location of the tomb of some remote 
ancestor. It opposes the Gospel in numberless ways : 
by declaring it to be unlucky to have a chapel or a Chris- 
tian school in the town, by attributing local misfortunes 
to the fact that some of the people have become Chris- 
tians and thus vitiated the ftmg-shici of the place, and 
in other ways too numerous to mention. 

The system is of the earth earthy, but shows much 
of the genius of the " prince of the powers of the air," 
against whose devices only the *' Sword of the Spirit" 
will prevail. 



152 The Cross and the Dragon, 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FEASTS, PASTIMES, AND FOLK-LORE. 

'^r^HE Chinese are exceedingly fond of feasts and 
-■- merrymakings. They enter with keenest zest 
into their pastimes, and display a childish delight in their 
celebrations. The lack of Sabbath rest is made up, in 
a great measure, by the numerous holidays that come 
in the course of the year. 

First and most important are their New Year festivi- 
ties. The people are absorbed for weeks beforehand in 
preparation for the day, and hail its arrival with every 
demonstration of joy. Their houses, shops, and persons 
undergo a thorough renovation ; the lanterns at the 
door are changed, good-luck papers renewed, the furni- 
ture scoured and burnished, and as the auspicious day 
dawns all business is suspended; while young and old, 
in holiday attire, with smiling faces, exchange calls and 
greetings. It is everybody's birthday, and even beggars 
in the street make some show of hilarity. The rush of 
traffic through the streets is stopped, and gives place to 
well-dressed throngs paying New Year's calls. Parents 
in the early morning receive the formal salutations and 
prostrations of their children. Masters are greeted with 
low obeisances by their pupils. Men and women go in 
separate companies, the young children of the house- 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 153 



hold, decked in the gayest robes, accompanying them. 
Greetings are presented with folded hands and deep 
bows accompanied by the words Kung-Jd ! Kung-hi ! 
" I respectfully wish you joy; " to which is often added 
the phrase Sz-sz-yu-i, " may everything be according 
to your wish." Each child receives a complimentary 
gift of cash wrapped in red paper, while tea and sweet- 
meats are offered in every house to regale the guests. 
Among those who have wide circles of friends greetings 
are often exchanged by cards. The abundance of red 
and gilt paper, in broad bands over the doors and lin- 
tels, gives the whole city a bright and gay appearance. 
Red is the festive color, the color of good luck ; and all 
presents are wrapped in red paper, which is expressive 
of good wishes. All visiting cards and cards of invita- 
tion are written on paper of this color. Over the door 
the freshly pasted papers read, " May the five blessings, 
namely, longevity, riches, health, virtue, and a natural 
death, descend upon this house." Over the entrance to 
shops the words are, '' May rich customers continually 
enter the door ; " while over the counter are the words, 
" May the New Year bring great good luck." Presents 
of small oranges arc made at this season ; their name, 
hit, being the same in sound as the word for "lucky," 
is thought to be a good omen, hence the custom. For a 
similar reason thin-shelled bivalves, called /izen, are eaten ; 
this word being identical in sound with the word for " in- 
telligence." The fish, carp, called Uc, the same sound 
as the word for "profit," is also much sought after. No 
work is done on this day; and through the half-closed 
doors of the shops may be seen tables spread for feasts, 



154 'r^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

men and boys engaged in boisterous games, every one 
in good spirits, happy in the privilege of seeing the 
New Year. Sorrow and gloom are thrust into the back- 
ground, while those in mourning do not appear, to mar 
the general gayety of spirit by anything suggestive of 
death. All debts are either paid in full or some ar- 
rangement made by which the year is tided over. The 
incoming year is announced by the deafening clangor 
of gongs, drums, and fire-crackers. Throughout the 
day, far into the succeeding night, and often for several 
days in continuance, the incessant explosion of fire- 
works, hung in long strings from door-posts or thrown 
in great packages into the street, is kept up. This noise 
is supposed to keep off the evil spirits always prowling 
about. So great is the consumption of crackers in 
Canton that the streets become thickly covered with the 
debris of paper, tons of such refuse being swept tip and 
carried out to the fields to be used in fertilizing the soil. 

New Year's festivities extend as a rule for ten days. 
The second day is called " Ladies' Day," and if the 
weather be fine many ladies go out in excursions on the 
river to the flower gardens and temple grounds, where 
attractive groves are found. They present a bright and 
gaudy picture, with their richly embroidered robes of 
finest silk and satin, their painted faces, and tiny feet 
encased in golden slippers. 

The weather at this season is usually cold, and as they 
have no stoves or fires they increase the number of their 
garments; so that in remarking upon the temperature of 
the day, it will be said to be " three jackets " cold 
or " six jackets " cold, and sometimes it reaches the 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 155 

extreme point of being " twelve jackets " cold. As they 
dress accordingly, the appearance of a company on a 
day twelve jackets cold is truly unique. 

The Chinese reckon time by lunar months, making an 
intercalary month necessary every three or four years ; 
and the date of their New Year varies according to our 
time. Usually succeeding, but on rare occasions pre- 
ceding it, is the ceremony of " Welcoming the Spring." 
It is observed in Canton by a fine procession, headed by 
the Prefect, — who for that day takes first rank among 
the officials of the city, — which, issuing from the east 
gate, proceeds to the Temple of Agriculture, and there, 
after a furrow has been ploughed by the Prefect or his 
deputy, a clay ox is broken and sacrifices offered to 
secure a fruitful season. 

Next in order of time is the '* Festival of the Tombs," 
which has been referred to in the preceding chapter. 
Besides its significance as a sacrifice to the spirits of the 
deceased, the occasion partakes of the nature of a grand 
family excursion. Boats are engaged, and often a week 
or more occupied in reaching the hills. The family, or 
as many of them as are permitted to attend, regard it 
mainly as a holiday, not the least important part being 
the feast of baked or boiled meats enjoyed after the 
ceremonies of worship are over. This jaunt to the hills 
is looked forvvard to by those who live in cities as one 
of the most pleasant experiences of the year. 

On the fifth day of the fifth moon, usually early in 
June, occurs the " Dragon-boat Festival." It is observed 
as a national holiday; and was instituted in memory of 
the statesman Kuh-yuen, who flourished in the fifth 



156 The Cross and the Dragon, 

century before Christ. Having offered good, but unac- 
ceptable advice to the Emperor, he was falsely accused 
by one of the petty princes, and to escape dishonor, 
drowned himself in one of the affluents of the Tung- 
ting Lake. The people, in whose admiration he stood 
high, went out in boats to search for his body, but failed 
to find it. A peculiar kind of rice-cake, still sold in 
quantities at this season, was made ; and starting across 
the river in boats, with gongs beating and flags flying, 
each strove to be first on the spot where Kuh-yuen dis- 
appeared, to sacrifice to his spirit. This feast is kept 
up to the present time, and in the neighborhood of 
Canton, where the water facilities are so great, it is ex- 
ceedingly popular. Long, narrow boats, with from 
sixty to eighty rowers, are used. The bow is carved in 
the shape of a dragon's head, and the stern like his tail. 
Men with flags, drums, and gongs stand at intervals in 
the boats, beating time for the rowers and waving their 
flags to cheer them on. Scores of these boats are 
brought out every year, and sharp contests occur as 
they race up and down the stream. The river for miles 
presents a most animated scene. All the available 
boats are engaged for family parties, who station them- 
selves at favorable points, while all the houses along the 
banks are used as stands for spectators. The deep bass 
of the drum announces their approach, and every one is 
on the alert, cheering the contestants, the various flags 
and uniforms showing from what district they hail. One 
day usually ends the sport in Canton city, but in the 
country the festival is kept up for several days. Each 
village or clan has one or more boats, which go from 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 157 

point to point, as the fair days come round, and race in 
the streams. The exercise is exhilarating, the display- 
on the river fascinating, and the whole a pleasant break 
in the monotonous course of their lives. Accidents 
rarely occur; and when the hoHday is over, the long 
boats are carefully stowed away in sheds, to preserve 
them until the next year. 

On the seventh day of the seventh month occurs the 
festival known under various names, as that of the 
"Seven Sisters," of the ''Pleiades," and of the "Skilful 
Sister." Diverse accounts are given as to the mytho- 
logical significance of this feast. The seven stars, 
symbolizing the Seven Sisters of Industry, are in the 
ascendancy at this season, their good influences being 
supposed to culminate on the seventh night of the sev- 
enth moon, at which time special worship is offered by 
girls and women. The most popular version of the 
mythological meaning is, that the " Shepherd," repre- 
sented by the chief star in the constellation of Lyra, and 
the " Skilful Sister," by a star in the Swan, were mar- 
ried ; but falling under the wrath of Yuk-ti, the chief of 
the gods, were separated, the River of Heaven, as the 
milky way is called, flowing as a barrier between them. 
Once a year only are they permitted to come together, 
the occasion being on the seventh of the seventh month. 
This being a season of special joy to the Skilful Sister, 
she is supposed to be more ready to bestow favors than 
at other times. It is a time of special celebration in the 
houses of the people. On the eve preceding, the rooms 
are brilliantly illuminated, and tables covered with em- 
broidery and other productions of skilful fingers dis- 



158 The Cross and the Dragon. 

played. A surprising array of articles made from grains 
of rice is seen. Plates, cups, baskets, fruits, birds, ani- 
mals, etc., in endless variety, made of rice grains colored 
yellow, red, blue, orange, and almost every tint. Lamps 
of this peculiar work, with candles lighted, show tables 
covered with the most exquisite specimens of handiwork. 
It is the ladies' feast, and great pride is taken in exhibit- 
ing these proofs of their skill, which not only excite the 
passing admiration of friends admitted, but often lead to 
something more significant. When the midnight hour 
arrives, they fall down in worship and beseech the god- 
dess of industry to bestow her skill upon them and give 
them proficiency in all the branches of industry that 
engage their hands. The good influences abroad are 
not confined to handiwork, but touch other interests 
as well; and water drawn on this night, at or after 
midnight, is considered a specific against certain forms 
of disease. 

The festival of " All Souls " has been referred to. It 
is rather a feast for the dead than the living. It is 
known popularly as the " Burning of Clothes," quanti- 
ties of paper clothing being then consumed as offerings 
to the wandering spirits. Every neighborhood is taxed 
to provide funds for these offerings, and priests in full 
canonical robes perform elaborate ritual services. 

The " Moon-feast " occurs when the harvest moon is 
full. Its approach is heralded by a great variety of 
cakes with mysterious characters stamped upon them, 
and still more mysterious ingredients entering into their 
composition. Some are packed in fancy boxes, and 
adorned with various designs, thickly painted over 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 159 

them. It is the delight of every child to possess one 
of these " moon cakes." On the night when the moon 
is full, lanterns are suspended on poles from every house 
and boat, and offerings made to propitiate the goddess 
of the night. It is recorded that during the celebration 
of this festival in Canton, years ago, an almost total 
echpse of the moon occurred, spreading terror among 
the people, and causing nearly the whole population to 
turn out with drums, gongs, kettles, pans, and anything 
that could contribute noise, to frighten away the dragon 
of the sky, which was eating up the moon. At this sea- 
son special displays of fireworks may be seen. In these 
the Chinese excel, — not merely in the original snap- 
cracker and rocket, but in various forms of Greek 
fire and other more wonderful displays, where trees, 
houses, boats, pagodas, etc., are developed as the frame 
consumes. 

In the early autumn is a feast of lanterns, quite dis- 
tinct from the one held at the middle of the first moon. 
It is chiefly in the interests of the river population, and 
its object is to propitiate the spirits of the drowned and 
the gods of the water. Processions of boats covered 
with rows of lanterns, extending along the sides and 
over the top, hundreds sometimes on one boat, float up 
and down the river with the tide. Inside the boats 
Taoist priests, arrayed in scarlet and embroidered robes, 
chant prayers, to the beating of gongs and cymbals, for 
the benefit of the spirits, and cast gilt paper, burning, 
into the stream. It is a beautiful sight to watch these 
boats, sparkling with their lines of lamps, move slowly 
up and down the dark river. 



i6o The Cross and the Dragon. 

In October Canton is the scene of a succession of 
brilliant displays called ta-tsiu, made in honor of the 
god of fire. Whole streets are thickly hung with 
lamps and chandeliers. At short intervals, artificial 
gateways are erected, with groups of figures, represent- 
ing historical scenes, various industries, or mythological 
incidents, placed above them. They are so arranged 
that the figures move and act certain pantomimes. 
Stages are put up in the wider spaces, where bands 
of music play. In the evening the whole is lighted up, 
and presents a scene of bewildering brilliancy and com- 
bination of color, with the crystal pendants of the chan- 
deliers, the gold and embroidery on the frames and 
archways, the profusion of feather-work, made from the 
plumage of the Siamese kingfisher, and the figures 
moving in absurd mimicry of actual motions. The im- 
mense crowds pouring through the narrow streets seem 
never to tire watching the exhibition. Large compa- 
nies are formed whose business it is to furnish the ma- 
terials for these displays, and the richer streets show a 
keen rivalry in trying to outshine each other. All the 
principal thoroughfares are decorated in this way every 
year at a great expense to the neighborhood. 

Soon after the autumnal equinox comes the season for 
flying kites, old and young entering into the sport with 
keenest delight. Their kites are often most elaborate 
aff"airs, being made in the shape of birds, dragons, and 
other objects, which float gracefully at a height of several 
hundred feet. Whistles are often attached, which in the 
strong currents of air keep up a constant whirring 
sound. Some think that their troubles are carried off 



Feasts^ Pastimes^ and Folk-lore. i6i 

as the kite ascends ; and this accounts, in a measure, for 
the indulgence of old men in this boyish sport. 

On tlie ninth of the ninth month, it is the custom of 
many to ascend to the tops of the hills. This custom 
of ** Ascending the Heights " is born of the hope, very 
vague and indistinct, that by so doing their burdens of 
care and sorrow may be carried off by the winds, which 
at this season blow with peculiar force from the north- 
west. On this day the hills about Canton will some- 
times be covered with people drawn thither by the 
hope of some indefinite good. 

In midwinter occurs the " Feast of the Winter Solstice," 
which is universally observed. Coming three days be- 
fore our Christmas, it is sometimes called the Chinese 
Christmas ; and, vice versa, our Christmas is sometimes 
called the western winter festival. Even the poorest 
try to have a fowl of some kind on this day. The boat- 
people will often rear chickens with infinite trouble, to be 
sure of a feast on this occasion. It is the turning-point 
in the midnight of the year, the beginning of better 
days. 

Beside these general feasts are many special ones. 
The marriage of a son is the occasion of great festivity 
and a holiday for the whole family. Relatives come 
from the city and the country to drink wine to the bride 
and partake in the joys of the occasion. It is a day of 
pleasurable excitement to all but the poor bride. After 
all the worry and fatigue of preparation, she is torn from 
her home and brought hither in a closed sedan chair, 
so tightly shut in that she sometimes reaches the place 
in a state of unconsciousness, having fainted away 

1 1 



1 62 The Cross and the Dragon. 



in the close atmosphere. Her arrival is hailed by an 
explosion of fireworks, and is often the signal for un- 
comfortable practical jokes. Her face must be carefully 
concealed from public view, and all day long she must 
stand with her hands held out in a horizontal semicircle 
before her face, the broad sleeves of her scarlet bridal 
robe in this position conceaHng her features. Supported 
by two attendants, she must present cups of tea to all the 
guests, bowing response to every compliment. Efforts 
are often made by the friends of the bridegroom to trip 
her as she walks, or pull down her hands that some 
ghmpse of her face may be seen. Her conduct is 
closely watched, and any show of impatience or ill-tem- 
per is taken as an unfavorable indication of her disposi- 
tion. The young man, also, is not permitted to sit 
down, but must see that the guests are cared for, and 
endure all the gibes of his youthful companions as to 
the appearance or disposition of his bride. 

Many families make a feast at the naming of a son, 
which occurs when he has completed his first month. 

The Chinese are all formed into guilds and trades- 
unions, each of which has its hall, and every year some 
feast or celebration is given. An idol is chosen as the 
patron of the society ; and usually, on the anniversary 
of this deity, processions are organized or theatrical per- 
formances given. These guilds are both a help and a 
hindrance to those belonging to them. They monopo- 
lize trade in their different departments. It is only by 
apprenticeship in these guilds that a young man is able 
to learn shoemaking, carpentering, wood-carving, and 
the hundred other industries of the people. They have 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 163 

their special rules and restrictions, and general funds, to 
which all the members contribute, to be drawn upon 
when, for sufficient reason, any member is out of em- 
ployment, and to secure support for their families in 
case of death. 

Lo-pan, the patron deity of the carpenters, is honored 
by a yearly procession, which is often the occasion of 
much display. 

Theatres are the great source of public amusement. 
They are movable institutions, controlled by compa- 
nies who may be engaged for a period of three or four 
days or for several months. The actors are trained un- 
der teachers whose schools are easily detected in pass- 
ing along the street by the peculiar sounds that issue 
forth. The natural voice is discarded, and a shrill fal- 
setto is adopted. Much of the recitation is in a sing- 
song style on a painfully high key, accompanied by 
excruciating bursts of music, so called. Theatrical 
companies travel in large boats, specially constructed 
for their use, and when engaged to perform in a certain 
place, proceed to the nearest landing stage. A lofty 
structure of bamboo poles is put up and covered with 
sheets of matting, painted red, and roofed with the 
fringes of palm leaves woven into broad layers. Stage 
and galleries are erected with the inevitable bamboo, 
and seats made of rough boards, the whole affording 
accommodation for a thousand or more people. The 
company is usually engaged by the gentry of the place, 
or the guild of a certain trade, or the proprietors of 
some temple, and the performances made free to all 
who choose to attend. Special galleries are arranged 




A CHINESE THEATRE. 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 165 

for the women, who often come out in great numbers. 
The plays are usually reproductions from historical 
novels, and are performed in a great measure by panto- 
mime. They are frequently of enormous length, several 
months being necessary for the complete presentation 
of one play. The manager, however, abridges them to 
suit occasion. The gaudy clothing, the false beards, 
the high falsetto voices, the utter lack of the usual stage 
illusions, the deafening clangor of the gongs and cym- 
bals, form a combination that only Chinese can enjoy. 
The approach of a theatrical company creates a stir 
throughout the whole neighborhood, while young and 
old lay their plans to see the play. Travelling singers 
are often met with, their guitars attuned to high-keyed, 
quavering voices. 

Chinese music is something peculiar to the country, 
and very few are able to imitate it, even after they have 
heard it many times. Both men and women sing in an 
artificial tone that is described as something " betvv^een 
a squeal and a scream." Their voices are sometimes 
soft and plaintive, but without much compass. They 
seldom sing together; and of the thousands of street 
musicians who gain a precarious living by their vocal 
skill, assisted by their rude guitars, each one performs 
singly. There is no lack of variety in their musical 
instruments. Seventy different kinds are described in 
one work, of which seventeen are drums. A certain 
treatise on beating the drum scientifically, published a 
thousand years ago, contains a list of one hundred and 
twenty symphonies. Gongs, cymbals, tambourines, musi- 
cal vases, stringed instruments of various kinds, horns, 



1 66 The Cross and the Dragon. 

flutes, etc. are constantly used. A Chinese orchestra in 
full career is a phenomenon in the musical world. Each 
player seems to have his own time, and the aim of each 
is to make as much noise as possible. A Chinese Con- 
servatory of Music is not a pleasant neighbor, especially 
when the performances are kept in full blast through 
most of the night. If the choice lay between a brass 
foundry or a nail factory and such an institution, the 
former would be accepted as infinitely preferable. 

The beggars form a numerous class in the population 
of Canton, and are formed into a guild, to which the 
entrance fee is seven dollars. They go in companies 
through the streets, and demand a copper cash from 
every shop. If their demand is not immediately com- 
plied with, they lie down on the floor, obstructing the 
doorway, pounding on gongs and pans, and render 
themselves generally obnoxious until the cash is re- 
ceived. Some have been purposely deformed to excite 
the pity of the public, while others make capital of any 
natural deformity. One man whose legs and arms were 
paralyzed so that he could only roll along the street, 
presented a most pitiable sight, and drew alms not only 
of copper but of silver as well. His occupation was so 
lucrative that he soon became the owner of several 
houses, and could hire a man to carry him to his beat 
in the morning, and back to his home in the evening. 
Taking their position along crowded streets, they some- 
times beat their breasts with stones, uttering, meanwhile, 
the most doleful cries, or knock their heads on the stone 
pavement until great knots appear, calling in the most 
heart-rending tones on the passers-by to bestow the 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore, 167 

wealth-giving cash. Near the end of the year they ply 
their trade with vigor, carrying dead cats and other offen- 
sive objects to hasten the gifts of cash. Many of the 
beggars are lepers, who live in the village set apart for 
them outside the east gate. 

Chinese folk-lore is very rich and varied. Much of it 
is connected with idolatry, but in every district are 
found legends and traditions peculiar to the place, with 
habits and customs corresponding. They have great 
dread of unlucky words ; and on certain days cannot be 
induced to pronounce the word for monkey, and avoid' 
all direct mention of the word for death. They will say 
a man has passed from the body, or has passed from 
the world, or has gone to heaven, but dislike to say 
plainly that he is dead. The word for coffin is carefully 
avoided, and the euphonym, ** longevity boards," used 
instead. One may look in vain for a coffin-shop an- 
nounced in plain words ; but the places where they 
manufacture " long life " boards are numerous. The 
phrase htmg'Shmi means, literally, *' empty-handed," 
and is the constant expression used in writing; but 
burden-bearers, as they pass along the street, and call 
to pedestrians to open the way, invariably say kat shau- 
" lucky hand," the other words being the same in 
sound as the expression, '' murderer's hand." So, too, 
in speaking of an empty house, the word kat, " lucky," 
is used instead of the proper term //7/;?^, on account 
of the coincidence of sound with the term " murderous." 
Bats are considered omens of happiness because their 
name, fook, is the same in sound as the word for 
'* happiness." Their dread of certain words may some- 



1 68 The Cross and the Dragon, 

times be turned to good account. A certain family were 
much annoyed by crowds of Chinese men, who daily 
gathered on an elevated platform adjoining, that over- 
looked their enclosure, to stare at them, often making 
insulting remarks as well. Remonstrance proved use- 
less ; and as the annoyance continued, one of the gentle- 
men bethought himself of this Chinese superstition, and 
posted up an unlucky word on the side of his house 
where it was sure to meet their eyes. The effect was 
magical ; the men disappeared at once, and no further 
trouble occurred. 

They are firm believers in signs and portents. A 
comet presages war; and as strife is ever going on in 
some portion of the great Empire, they are sure to see 
this sign fulfilled. Eclipses, according to their notions, 
are caused by a dragon devouring the sun or moon, and 
gongs are beaten to drive him away. The breaking of 
a mirror indicates separation from one's wife, and the 
destruction of an oil-jar portends even worse evils. 
Before sitting down they always fan the seat, in the 
belief that if you sit down while it is still warm, you will 
fall out with the last sitter. Sudden sneezing indicates 
that some one is talking ill of you. Mirrors of a certain 
kind are said to foreshadow the future; and jewels are 
sometimes exhibited for a few cash, in which his future 
is depicted to each observer in the shape of a beggar, a 
mandarin, a merchant, or something else. Charms and 
amulets are much used. Large copper cash, with lucky 
characters inscribed, are hung around children's necks. 
In the Temple of the Five Genii in Canton stands the 
tower of the tabooed bell. It was cast four hundred 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 169 



years ago, and a prophecy foretold it would strike the 
doom of the city. A rash official ordered it to be struck, 
and forthwith an epidemic broke out in which over one 
thousand children perished. Since then bells are often 
worn by children as charms against disease. When a 
child meets with an accident, or is badly frightened, the 
mother takes him to the spot where the misfortune hap- 
pened, and presents offerings to the spirits of that par- 
ticular place to secure his recovery. Missionaries have 
had frequent experience of peculiar customs in this 
line. On one occasion, as two of them ascended a hill, 
some rude boys from the village pursued them and 
hooted at them in a very insulting manner. They drove 
them back, with a severe rebuke for their rudeness, and 
resumed their walk. As they came down from the hill, 
they were met by a throng of people, in the midst of 
whom was a woman holding a boy by the hand. There 
were evidences of considerable excitement in the as- 
sembly; and as they drew near, the woman accused 
them of having frightened her boy so that he was seri- 
ously injured, and insisted on their presenting her with 
a piece from their suspenders with which she wished to 
make a tea to restore her boy to his senses. 

A more peculiar case occurred in my own experience. 
Having anchored my boat for the night near a large 
village, the boys came around in great numbers, throw- 
ing stones, calling names, and rendering themselves 
offensive in many ways. Rushing out upon them, I 
seized one of the ringleaders and threatened to have 
him punished by the elders of the town, if the disturb- 
ance did not cease. Soon after this, I heard a great 



1 70 The Cross and the Dragon, 

clamor on the bow of the boat, and was informed that the 
mother of the boy had come to see me. Going out I 
•found her with the boy, whom she said I had frightened 
so that he had turned green, and demanded a handful 
of spittle to restore him. Disgusted at such a request, 
I turned and left her ; but she persisted in her demand, 
and all the people supported her in it, so that in sheer 
self-defence I was compelled to accede. Whether the 
remedy proved efficacious or not I never heard. Another 
instance of the same kind occurred a few days later, in 
which the request came from a long-robed scholar, who 
was very polite, but whose little son had been greatly 
startled, as he said, by my strange appearance, and he 
wished to guard against any possible evil consequence. 

A missionary had a large dog that accompanied him 
in his travel, and often spread terror among the half-clad 
urchins everywhere to be found. On one occasion a 
few hairs from his tail were demanded to make tea to 
restore the wits of the frightened scions of the house of 
Han. 

Their belief in spirits is notorious. Elves, fairies, 
brownies, imps, etc., abound. Haunted houses are fre- 
quent. They believe in spirit-rapping, planchette, alche- 
my, mesmerism, and divination of various kinds, — by 
bamboo slips, by images, by somnambulism, chiro- 
mancy, and palmistry. Branches are hung over the 
doors to ward off evil influences, and cash swords are 
suspended inside their bed-curtains as protection against 
nocturnal spirits. Their roads are always crooked, and 
abound in sharp turns and corners, so made to obstruct 
the approach of spirits, which delight in broad, straight 



Feasts, Pastimes, and Folk-lore. 171 

ways. The houses on a street are never built in an even 
Hne, but present somewhat of a zigzag appearance, as 
some project, while others are set in. This is done 
intentionally to check the spirits. Corner houses are 
avoided because their position affords such facilities for 
the evil spirits to sweep around them. The gable end 
of a house with its sharp roof turned to the street indi- 
cates that only a barber shop will prosper opposite. 
The entrance to a house is never direct. A screen just 
within necessitates a turn to the right or to the left, and 
the arrangement of the open court, with its flowers and 
other ornaments, shows a circuitous path to the inner 
apartments. Many accounts of supernatural appear- 
ances are met with, such as the story of the fairy who 
visited the Emperor Leang, and in reply to his question 
whence she came, said, " I live on the terrace of the 
Sun, in the enchanted mountains. In the morning I am 
a cloud, in the evening a shower of rain." 

It is considered a mark of Heaven's favor to have 
several generations together in one house. Every in- 
stance in which five generations are found in one house 
is reported to the Emperor, who bestows his special 
recognition upon the family, and orders a memorial 
gateway to be erected in commemoration of the event. 
Pictures too are drawn with the great-great-grandfather, 
the great-great-grandson, and the three intervening rep- 
resentatives, arranged in a group. Memorial portals are 
also erected to men and women who have attained the 
age of one hundred, and to widows whose husbands 
died in youth, and who have lived to old age in faithful 
devotion to their memory. It is especially meritorious 



172 The Cross and the Dragon, 

for girls whose betrothed husbands died before marriage, 
to remain single to the end of their lives. Many me- 
morial gateways to such heroines are found in all parts 
of the land. The people of Canton consider their dis- 
trict one of the most fortunate parts of the Empire ; and 
a common saying among them is, " Happy the man 
who is born in Soo-chow, who lives in Kwong-chow 
(Canton), and who dies in Lau-chow." The people of 
Soo-chow have the finest complexions, and are con- 
sidered the ^lite of the Empire ; Canton is supposed to 
furnish the best food ; while in Lau-chow the best coffin- 
boards are found. 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past. 173 



CHAPTER IX. 

A SKETCH OF CANTON MISSIONS IN THE PAST. 

HAVING taken the foregoing brief survey of the 
country, of its people, and of their moral and 
religious beliefs and practices, we turn now to a short 
review of Christian work among them as it relates to 
the past. The history of the past divides itself into 
three periods: the first, from 1807 to 1842, which 
may be called the period of outside preparation; the 
second, from 1842 to 1859, was the period of initiation 
and organization; the third, from 1859 to the present, 
is the period of expansion. These periods are sepa- 
rated by striking outward events in the shape of wars, 
and their progress marked by treaties affording increased 
facilities. 

The statement that it is but forty-two years since 
Canton was open to mission work, while perfectly true 
as to outward opportunity, is in some respects mislead- 
ing. Previous to the ratification of the treaties of 1842, 
not only had Christianity received no recognition, but 
missionaries, together with all foreigners, were not per- 
mitted to reside in the country, much less propagate 
their religion. For many years a small section of the 
city was set apart for the residence of European and 
American merchants, who were rigidly confined to these 



174 The Cross and the Dragon, 

narrow limits, not being permitted even to walk through 
the streets of the city or to make short excursions into 
the country. Within this space the beginning of Chris- 
tian work was made, which as a matter of fact dates 
back to the year 1807, when the Rev. Robert Morrison 
arrived in Canton. He came under the auspices of the 
London Missionary Society, which was the pioneer, and 
for many years the only society at work for the Chinese. 
Laboring alone, except for the brief assistance received 
from the Rev. W. Milne, Dr. Morrison, by his single- 
ness of aim and assiduity, accomplished in twenty-seven 
years an amount of work, which, considering the dif- 
ficulties under which it was carried on, is a remarkable 
monument of learning and industry. Received on his 
arrival into the American house of Messrs. Milner & 
Bull, and afterwards holding the position of interpreter 
to the East India Company, he escaped molestation 
from the Chinese, who would soon have interfered with 
any open efforts in evangelization. His strength was 
chiefly expended in translating the Scriptures and pre- 
paring a dictionary of the language. These two great 
works, undertaken at the instigation of the Society 
which sent him out, have done noble service in their 
respective fields, and although superseded by later pro- 
ductions, will ever remain of historical value, both for 
their intrinsic merits and for their service in preparing 
the way for more complete and accurate works. The 
spirit and character of Dr. Morrison, as given by his 
associate, Dr. Milne, show his high qualifications for 
the work undertaken: "With a patience that refused to 
be conquered, a diligence that never tired, a caution 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past. 1 75 

that always trembled, and studious habits that sponta- 
neously sought retirement," this first Protestant mis- 
sionary to China pursued his labors. A Sabbath 
service in his own apartments, attended chiefly by 
domestics and those employed in cutting the blocks 
for printing, was constantly maintained ; and after seven 
years the first convert was baptized. This man, Tsai 
A-ko, the first Protestant Christian in China, gave good 
proof in his after life of his sincerity. 

Closely associated with Dr. Morrison was the first 
Chinese evangelist ordained by him, Leung-A-fah, who 
holds a deservedly high place in the history of Christian 
work in Canton. He was a man of energy, zeal, and 
good literary ability, an impressive speaker, and a whole- 
souled evangelist. By his writings, teaching, and preach- 
ing, he exerted a great influence. His zeal in supplying 
books to the students at the literary examinations 
brought upon him the suspicion of the government. 
He was accused of disseminating seditious literature, 
and efforts were made to arrest him. He fled to his 
home in the country, whither the soldiers pursued 
him, and failing to apprehend him, seized three of 
his relatives and shut up his house. He escaped 
to Macao, whence he sailed to Singapore, and for 
many years remained an exile from his native land. 
When permitted to return, he resumed his work with 
increased zeal. His tract, " Good Words to Exhort 
the Age," was extensively distributed, and was the 
first to arouse the attention of Hung-Siu-tsiin, the 
leader of the Tai-ping rebellion, to a study of Chris- 
tian doctrine. 



176 The Cross and the Dragon. 



Dr. Morrison died before the day of change and prog- 
ress had dawned in the Far East. After all his toil and 
faith and prayer, he saw no schools or congregations 
and but three or four converts ; yet his convictions of 
the good to come were never shaken ; and his last letter 
breathes the same spirit of faith that inspired his first 
devotion : " I wait patiently the events to develop in 
the course of Divine Providence. The Lord reigneth. 
If the kingdom of God our Saviour prosper in China, 
all will be well; other matters are comparatively of 
small importance." 

The first American missionary to reach Canton was 
the Rev. Dr. Bridgeman, who has left his mark in the 
translation of the Scriptures to which his name and that 
of his learned colleague are attached, the Bridgeman 
and Culbertson Version of the Bible being still used by 
half the churches in China. There are other works from 
his pen in the way of chrestomathies, Christian treatises, 
and articles in the " Chinese Repository," a magazine of 
which he was the originator, and which for a quarter of a 
century drew the best contributions from writers on Chi- 
nese subjects and exerted a great influence. After a few 
years he was joined by Dr. S. Wells Williams, the 
distinguished scholar, lexicographer, and diplomatist, 
who gave an impulse to the work of printing, and 
brought his great talents to the preparation of dictiona- 
ries and other helps in the study of the language. By 
his great work, " The Middle Kingdom," he has given 
to Western nations the most truthful and comprehensive 
view of China and its people ever brought within the 
compass of one book. 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past, 177 

Excluded from the Empire itself, the early missiona- 
ries, finding large communities of Chinese in settlements 
to the south, devoted their time and energy to work 
among them, in the hope that through them the myriads 
shut up within the sealed Empire might be reached. 
To this end missions were established among the Chi- 
nese emigrants in Malacca, Penang, Singapore, Borneo, 
and Batavia ; and for a score of years great attention was 
given to printing books, teaching schools, and general 
Christian work. The hope that those converted would 
exert a favorable influence among their countrymen in 
China proved to a great degree illusive. All these mis- 
sions, as far as they relate to the Chinese, have been sus- 
pended, the wide openings which the treaties secured in 
the Empire itself drawing most of the laborers thither. 

The arrival of Dr. Parker in 1834 drew attention to 
medical work, which, a few years later, resulted in the 
formation of the Medical Missionary Society in; China, 
which for forty-five years has through its hospital proved 
a fountain of beneficence to the suffering Chinese. In 
the present period of almost boundless opportunity it is 
impossible fully to appreciate the difficulties and embar- 
rassments under which missionaries labored until 1842. 
Restricted in Canton to the narrow limits of the foreign 
factories, forbidden to walk through the streets or enter 
the city, excluded from direct intercourse with the 
people, the constant objects of suspicion, they were 
hampered in every undertaking. In Macao, where 
better things might have been expected, the jealousy 
of the Portuguese authorities led to the closmg of the 
printing-presses, the prohibition of public preaching or 

12 



178 The Cross and the Dragon. 

assemblies ; while the restless populations in the settle- 
ments farther south proved unsatisfactory material to 
work upon. Yet in that initiatory period a vast work 
of preparation was done, much insight into the charac- 
ter of the people was gained, many difficulties of lan- 
guage overcome ; so that when the doors were opened, 
the means for beginning immediate work not only in 
Canton, but elsewhere along the coast, were at hand. 
Dictionaries, Bibles, and tracts were in readiness, schools, 
hospitals, and printing-presses so placed as to be imme- 
diately transferred to the newly opened cities. 

During this period, too, the English and American 
merchants were liberal in their support of medical and 
educational work. The Morrison Educational Society 
was well endowed, and under the efficient superintend- 
ence of Dr. S. R. Brown attained a position of great 
usefulness, and was for many years the source of gen- 
eral knowledge to Chinese youth, some of whom have 
become prominent men in the country. 

The occupation of Hong-Kong afforded a new base 
of operations, which was quickly improved, and has re- 
mained until this day the centre of a large missionary 
enterprise, from which lines of work, with some scores 
of stations, extend far into the interior, intenvoven in 
many places with the work that spreads out from Canton. 
When, a year later, China made treaties of commerce 
and entered into diplomatic relations with other nations, 
and the five treaty ports were opened, it was the signal 
for the Church to advance and occupy these cities as 
centres of mission work. In the treaty of Nanking no 
stipulation was made as to the treatment of Christians, 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past, 1 79 

but the Emperor Tao-Kwong, in answer to a memorial 
from the commissioner Ki-Ying presented at the insti- 
gation of the French envoy, M. de Lagrene, issued a 
rescript granting toleration to adherents of the Romish 
Church, which, by implication, was made to include 
Protestants as well; but all foreigners of every nation 
were prohibited from going into the interior to propa- 
gate their religion. The tendency of these restrictions 
was to confine missionaries to the treaty ports ; and, as 
a great amount of preliminary work lay before them 
in these centres, the embarrassment of these restric- 
tions was not felt for a few years. These rescripts 
of the Emperor, however, carried but little weight; 
and even Roman Catholics found it difficult, and often 
impossible, to secure the privileges guaranteed. The 
second war with China, — so suddenly precipitated, — 
ended in the treaties of Tien-tsin, when the freedom 
of the rising church of Christ was quietly secured 
by specific articles inserted into the treaties with the 
four great nations. That in the American treaty reads 
thus : — 

" Article XXIX. The principles of the Christian religion, 
as professed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches, 
are recognized as teaching men to do good, and to do to others 
as they would have others do to them. Hereafter those who 
quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed 
and persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether 
a citizen of the United States or a Chinese convert, who, ac- 
cording to these tenets, peaceably teaches and practises the 
principles of Christianity, shall in no case be interfered with or 
molested." 



i8o 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



The order in which the various societies entered the 
mission field of Canton is as follows : — 



The London Mission 
American Board . . 
American Baptist . . 
American Presbyterian 
Rhenish Mission . . 



1807 
1830 
1841 
1844 
1846 



Basel Mission .... 1847 

English Wesleyan . . 1850 

United Presbyterian . . i860 
The Church Missionary 

Society 1870 



Of these, two, the American Board and the United 
Presbyterian, have withdrawn from the field, the former, 
however, having been recently re-established in Hong- 
Kong, while the Rhenish Mission has undergone some 
transformations, its works being now chiefly carried on 
by the Berlin Society. 

The natives of Canton, although accustomed for 
many years to the sight of foreigners, have always 
manifested a bitter hostility to all outsiders. The restric- 
tions placed upon the agents of the old East India 
Company, and, later on, upon all foreign residents, en- 
gendered a feeling of suspicion and contempt. The 
terms on which negotiations were carried on with 
the authorities, where the lowest in grade of Chinese 
officials was deputed to treat with the '' barbarians," and 
the constant use of contemptuous epithets in official 
documents, deepened this feeling. The general use of 
the term fan-kwei^ " foreign devil," and other usages 
implying the inferiority of Western peoples, led to much 
incivility and rudeness. The experiences of the opium 
war intensified the hatred already felt, so that when the 
missionaries began their work in the city, they were not 
met with a very cordial reception. The first question 
to be settled was that of securing residences, to give 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past, 1 8 1 

permanence to their operations ; and the difficulties ex- 
perienced in this matter often rendered temporary resi- 
dence in Macao or Hong-Kong necessary. The only 
available houses were native ones, often in unhealthy 
locations, damp and uncomfortable. Mere physical 
discomfort could have been easily endured, but the con- 
stant uncertainty arising from the suspicion and open 
hostility of their neighbors proved a most serious trial. 
Under the terms of the treaty of Nanking, they were 
not permitted to go within the city walls, all their oper- 
ations being confined to the suburbs, extending along 
the south and far to the east and west. The mere fact 
of their residence among them, and the daily sight of 
the strangers, whose object in coming they were slowly 
beginning to understand, was an education to the people. 

Among the first to find residences were Dr. Ball and 
his two daughters. These ladies were the objects of 
boundless curiosity, and were accustomed to walk 
through the narrow streets near their home, with bou- 
quets of flowers in their hands, to accustom the people 
to the sight of foreign ladies. 

Schools were established, as the best means of bring- 
ing a portion of the people under constant influences, 
sometimes in their houses, and again in such dark and 
narrow quarters as they were able to secure in the adja- 
cent streets. English was taught, as the means of at- 
tracting pupils of a better class. Several dispensaries 
were opened, which soon developed into hospitals, at 
which the attendance of patients constantly increased ; 
and preaching to those who gathered to receive physi- 
cal relief was, for years, the most direct means of reach- 



1 82 The Cross and the Dragon, 

ing the people. The hopeful spirit manifested in the 
earlier days is seen in the subjoined extract from a let- 
ter of Dr. Hobson in 1847. In speaking of the work in 
connection with his hospital, he says : — 

" The average attendance of Chinese has been over 
one hundred, and none have been more respectful and 
cordial in their attention than those who have received 
physical relief. These services must be witnessed to 
fully understand their interest. Deep emotions have 
been awakened when contrasting the restrictions of the 
first years of Protestant missions in China with the pres- 
ent freedom: then, not permitted to avow our mis- 
sionary character and object, lest it might eject us from 
the country; nor could a Chinese receive a Christian 
book but at the peril of his safety, or embrace that re- 
ligion without hazarding his life ; now he may receive 
and practise the doctrines of Christ and transgress no 
law of the empire." 

During this period excursions were sometimes made 
into the interior, and books distributed as widely as pos- 
sible. In the mean time, the work of organization was 
steadily going on ; appliances for instructing the people 
were multiplied, small congregations were gathered, and 
isolated converts brought in, but the progress was slow. 
It was emphatically a period of preparation. Plans 
were matured for future operations, and agencies set in 
action whose efficiency has since been proved. 

The great event of this time was the rise of the sect 
of Hung-Siu-tsiin, who called themselves '* the Society 
of the Worshippers of God," but who are known in his- 
tory as the Tai-ping rebels. Their chief was a man 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past. 183 

from the district of Fa-iin, about forty miles northwest 
of Canton. Awakened first by Leung-A-fah's tract and 
afterwards by a remarkable dream, he was led to study 
the New Testament. Convinced of its truth, he applied 
for baptism to Mr. Roberts of the American Baptist 
Mission. His request was not immediately granted, 
and he returned to his home. Soon afterwards, receiv- 
ing, as he supposed, a commission from Heaven to 
teach, he proceeded first to the country of the aborigi- 
nes near Lien-chow, and afterwards to the province of 
Kwong-si, where he gathered a large society, numbering 
at one time three thousand believers, about him. The 
doctrines and practices of these people were strikingly 
like those of the Christian Church. They accepted the 
New Testament as authority on all subjects, and caused 
thousands of copies to be printed and disseminated. 
Their moral precepts and regulations for daily conduct 
were, for the most part, strictly Christian in principle. 
Many of Hung-Siu-tsun's writings and prayers show 
deep religious feeling of a distinctively Christian type. 
The first whom he converted to his views were his two 
friends, Fung-Yun-San and Hung-Jin, whom he bap- 
tized in the school where the former was teacher ; and 
removing the idols, they celebrated their entrance upon 
the new life by composing odes to awaken men, as 
follows : — 

" Besides the God of Heaven, there is no other God ; 
Why do the foolish men take falsehood to be truth ? 
Since their primeval heart is ahogether lost, 
How can they now escape defilement from the dust? " 

To which the reply was made in true Chinese style : 



184 The Cross and the Dragon. 

" The Mighty Heavenly Father, He is the one true God. 
Idols are made of wood, or moulded from the clod. 
We trust that Jesus came to save us who were lost, 
That we may soon escape defilement from the dust. " 

On the occasion of the Feast of Lanterns he was in- 
vited by the elders of the village to use his poetical 
talents to assist in the celebration, and, being a scholar, 
to lend his presence and influence to the festivities. 

He replied in poetical style to their invitation: — 

" Not because of evil saying 
Did we disobey your orders. 
We but honor God's commandments, 
Act according to his precepts. 
Heaven's and perdition's way 
Must be rigidly distinguished. 
We dare not now in thoughtless manner 
Hurry through the present hfe." 

His discourses were chiefly exhortations to purity of 
life and behef in Jesus, as when he says, " Those who be- 
lieve not in the true doctrine of God and Jesus, though 
they be old acquaintances, are no friends of mine. 
Only the heavenly friendship is true ; all other is false. 
A short happiness is not a real one ; only eternal happi- 
ness can be called real. What others gain they cannot 
impart to me, and what I gain I cannot share with them. 
I only desire that very many may enter into heaven, and 
grieve that they should go to hell. Therefore I cannot 
withhold preaching to them the true doctrine." 

Possessed of unusual talents, he composed verses and 
pithy sayings, which were constantly repeated to impress 
them on his hearers. The following are specimens: 
" Keep the holy commandments, worship the true God, 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past, 185 



and then at the hour of departing heaven will be easily 
gained." " Those who believe in God are the sons and 
daughters of God." 

" Brethren, be cheerful, God rules over all. 
With hearts of faith, good deeds as proof, you rise to Heaven's 
hall." 

His special hostility was directed against the idols, 
and many striking instances of his fearless denunciation 
of the false gods are given. The increasing number of 
his adherents and the assaults upon prevaihng supersti- 
tions attracted attention from the gentry and officials, and 
led to a strong opposition. Driven in self-defence to 
take up arms, the project of establishing a new dynasty 
was formed, and the name of Tai-ping-Kwok, ** Great 
Peace Kingdom," adopted. Hung-Siu-tsiin offered the 
first place to each of his four leading coadjutors; and 
only after they had declined, and united in urging him 
to become their king, did he accept the honor. Thus, 
from a purely religious movement, it became a political 
one of the highest assumptions. Still retaining the 
Christian Scriptures as their authority, they were ready 
to proclaim them as the fountain of true religious knowl- 
edge and the rule of all moral conduct. They were, 
moreover, ready to enter into the fullest and most cor- 
dial relations with Christian nations and to adopt their 
improvements as far as possible. 

It is remarkable that in so short a period after the 
opening of China such a movement should have arisen. 
Forced into armed resistance by the attacks of Chinese 
soldiers, they first captured some adjoining towns, and 



1 86 The Cross and the Dragon. 

when their schemes for possessing the Empire were ma- 
tured and made known, bands of restless spirits were 
attracted to them. Some of these had been Hving as 
bandits in the mountains adjoining, one of them being 
under the leadership of a woman of great courage. 
Reinforced by these, the Tai-pings entered the path of 
conquest with an army several thousand strong. Re- 
ligious services were held daily, and prayers offered 
before each battle. Their course was one succession of 
victories through the provinces of Kwang-si, Hunan, 
and Kiang-si, until they reached the city of Nanking, 
which they proposed to make the seat of government. 
Here they received other elements uncongenial with the 
original religious professions of the leaders. The chief 
also became fanatical, and was given to vain dreams, by 
which, as he supposed, the will of Heaven was revealed. 
The southern soldiers, suddenly encountering the rigors 
of a northern winter, to which they were unused, lost 
heart, and the course of victory was checked. Corrup- 
tion and dissensions grew apace until the whole move- 
ment was vitiated, and was at last, by the aid of the 
English and French, entirely crushed. 

The hopes aroused by enthusiastic missionaries and 
, others of a Christian Emperor ascending the ancient 
throne of China were dashed in pieces as the vaga- 
ries and wild fanaticism of the leaders appeared. The 
original project, however, should not be judged by the 
later abuses of those who had no sympathy with its 
religious character, and acted in utter disregard of the 
principles upon which it was inaugurated. Many men 
of sober thought and calm judgment, fully acquainted 



Sketch of Canton Missio7is in the Past. 187 

with the subject, are found to-day who regard the move- 
ment as one that should have been encouraged, and are 
strong in their beHef that England made a fatal blunder 
in espousing the Imperial cause instead of maintaining 
strict neutrality or responding to the friendly overtures 
of the insurgents. What the outcome would have been 
in such a case, it is impossible to say. It is perhaps 
the greater wisdom to assume that the Christianity of 
Hung-Siu-tsiin, even upon the most favorable interpreta- 
tion of his beliefs, would have given the people but a 
mutilated and impure system, filled with gross errors, 
that might have proved, in the end, a greater obstacle 
to the spread of the true faith than unalloyed paganism. 
It is but reasonable to suppose that the converts made, 
though their number would soon have been reckoned 
by millions, would not have shown the knowledge and 
strength of character which the profession of Christ, in 
the face of opposition and persecution, requires. The 
appearance of so many Christian features, and their 
adoption of the term Shang-ti^ used by so many as the ' 
word for " God," aroused a violent prejudice in many 
quarters which has not yet been overcome. 

The second war with China, coming at the close of the 
Tai-ping rebellion, threw the whole country into con- 
fusion. The commencement of hostilities in Canton, 
and the attack on the city by the allied forces, drove the 
missionaries to Macao and Hong-Kong. Houses were 
destroyed, schools, chapels, and hospitals abandoned, 
and the native Christians scattered. For several years 
the greatest uncertainty prevailed ; but after the trea- 
ties of Tien-tsin were ratified and increased privileges 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



secured, the missions in Canton were established upon a 
firmer basis, and the churches then entered upon a 
period of greater prosperity. The destruction of many 
portions of the city along the river threw a great deal 
of desirable property into the market, and missionaries 
were thus enabled to secure favorable sites and erect 
houses better suited to their requirements. Sites for 
chapels and schools were obtained on the more impor- 
tant streets in the city, and preparations made for the 
wide extension of the work in all directions. The force 
of agents was greatly increased, and each department 
given a fresh impetus, which has caused the work as a 
whole to go forward with a gradual but assured expan- 
sion. The detailed discussion of the various agencies is 
reserved for succeeding chapters. 

As a rule, harmony has prevailed among the various 
societies at work, and the cordial interchange of views 
on important questions has proved beneficial to all con- 
cerned. For the past twenty years a bi-monthly con- 
ference has been held, attended by all the missionaries, 
in which topics of practical bearing on the work have 
been discussed with a view to general enlightenment 
and timely help. Opinions have frequently clashed, as 
the virtues and defects of the various methods of work 
pursued have been fully and freely canvassed. Board- 
ing-schools, the use of colloquial in translations of the 
Scriptures, the best method of training a native ministry, 
division of the field in the interior, and other subjects 
have called forth warm expressions of opinion not 
always harmonious. The use of the proper term, in 
translation and general work, for '* God " has been a 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past. 189 

vexed question throughout the whole course of mission- 
ary operations in China. The community in Canton is 
about equally divided in the use of Shait, the generic 
term for " gods," in the sense of objects of worship, 
and also meaning "spirit," and Sheimg-ti, *' the Ruler 
above," which many believe to be used in the Classics to 
designate the true God. To these a third party has 
been recently added who advocate Tien-chii, " Heavenly 
Lord," the term adopted by the Romanists. The 
prospects of an early settlement of this question are 
not encouraging. Each term is open to serious objec- 
tions ; and whichever prevails, must be converted and 
thoroughly Christianized before it can give full expres- 
sion to the meaning to be conveyed. The prospect now 
is that the two leading terms will be used interchange- 
ably, the first as the generic term, and the second as the 
specific name of Deity, in the sense of the Almighty. 

Each mission has had its day of small things, in some 
cases many days of very small results ; but all have now 
reached a point at which they can thank God for evi- 
dent progress, and take courage. In the Presbyterian 
Mission the result, measured by decades, is thus strik- 
ingly given : during the first ten years but one solitary. 
convert was received ; at the end of the second ten 
years the number was less than ten ; at the end of the 
third ten years it had reached one hundred ; while in 
the last ten years the number received has been nearly 
seven hundred. The ratio of increase in the other mis- 
sions has been very much the same; and considering the 
peculiar character of the Chinese, the many and mighty 
difficulties there are to contend with, the progress made 



IQO The Cross and the Dragon. 

can be attributed to nothing short of the power of God. 
The course has not been always smooth and pleasant. 
The history of each particular mission is replete with 
incidents and experiences of the deepest interest, but 
shows a dark side in many reverses that have come. In 
1870 a temporary check was felt throughout the whole 
field, in consequence of the excitement arising from the 
" gods and genii " powder affair. At Shek-lung, on the 
East River, the German Mission premises were destroyed, 
the inmates barely escaping with their lives. At Ng- 
chow, on the West River, the Baptist Mission was broken 
up ; while through the valleys of the Tsung-fa, Lien-chow, 
and other streams, the storm of excitement swept like a 
veritable tempest, involving both missionaries and native 
converts in distress. Local disturbances, in which chapels 
and schools have been broken up and Christians exposed 
to persecution, have frequently occurred ; but these are 
regarded as only trying episodes, brief checks in the 
onward march of the truth. The years 1 883 and 1 884 will 
long be remembered as a time of great unrest. The 
long prospect and final precipitation of war with France 
caused the lurking hatred of all foreigners to come to 
the surface and show itself in many acts of violence. 

From Canton as a centre the work has radiated in all 
directions, extending to the borders of the Canton prov- 
ince on the north and east, and into the province of 
Kwong-si on the west, firm footholds being gained in 
many places. The last decade has been one of great 
advance in many ways. In this time most of the mis- 
sions have doubled, some tripled, and others quadrupled 
their number of Christians. Actual statistics show that 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past, 1 9 1 

in the last seven years the aggregate of increase in all 
the missions has been just double that of their whole 
previous history. The energies of the missionaries have 
been directed in every channel through which influence 
could be brought to further their enterprise, so that the 
past is not merely rich in direct evangelistic efforts but 
in literary productions. Great results have been attained 
in the way of translations from the Chinese and in the 
preparation of Christian books. 

In the present day of enlarged opportunities and 
results, we should ever remember with gratitude those 
who in the past have laid deep the foundations and 
scattered wide the precious seed. Some are still in 
active work whose experience reaches back to the open- 
ing of China. Dr. Hopper has been forty years in the 
work. Dr. Chalmers has given thirty-five years to the 
cause, and won a name for scholarly attainments which 
few can hope to emulate. Mr. Piercy, for an equal 
period, has been identified with the Wesleyan Mission in 
Canton, of which he was the founder. Dr. Kerr, whose 
noble devotion can scarcely be surpassed, has given 
thirty-two years of most active effort to the work of 
medical missions. Dr. Graves, for nearly thirty years, 
Mr. Faber for twenty, and others for shorter periods, have 
toiled in the days when encouragements were few. Of 
those still living in other lands, are Dr. Legge, the great 
translator of Confucius, whose connection with China 
covers nearly half a century; the Rev. S. Whitehead, 
the polished orator, whose impassioned discourses made 
a deep impression on even the phlegmatic Chinese ; and 
the Rev. T. G. Selby, the ambitious pioneer, ever in the 



192 The Cross and the Dragon. 

advance guard, piercing the remote interior, and prepar- 
ing the way for settled work in influential centres. 

The roll of those who have ceased from their toil 
contains many whose names are handed down in the 
grateful memories of those who knew them ; others are 
perpetuated in their books, and others in the living word 
they preached. Men of varied talent and disposition 
have figured in the scenes that have been enacted in 
Canton. Many amusing chapters, descriptive of the 
strange scenes and encounters that have occurred, of 
the peculiar habits and methods of eccentric individuals, 
might be written. The Rev. I. J. Roberts, the pioneer 
of the Baptist Mission, was a peculiar combination of 
zeal and oddity. Popular with the Chinese, he would 
mingle with them on the most familiar terms. His 
association with the celebrated chief of the Tai-ping 
movement has given him a prominent place in the his- 
tory of the past. 

Dr. Hobson, the scholarly physician, has left an endur- 
ing record in eighteen medical works published, many 
of them illustrated, a most valuable contribution to 
medical science. Mr. Krolzyck, the energetic traveller 
and unwearying explorer of new fields, the first to pene- 
trate remote districts, has left his impress on many by 
his earnest life and efficient labors. Rev. C. F. Preston 
is held in pleasant memory, as one of the most fluent 
and popular preachers in Cantonese the city has ever 
heard. His many genial qualities, his unbroken good- 
nature, his enthusiasm in his special department of 
preaching, and his hopefulness in view of existing dis- 
couragements, have added cheerfulness and zest to many 



Sketch of Canton Missions in the Past. 193 

in active work. His words still speak in the hearts of 
many who heard him in the chapel near the Double 
Gate tower. 

The soil of Canton is enriched by the dust of scores 
of those who have fallen in the conflict. In the little 
cemetery to the east of the city is the sacred spot where 
the gleaming marble or the modest granite tells of those 
who have sunk beneath the burden and heat of the day, 
and found a resting-place in that distant land: men 
whom years of toil had worn, and others whom sud- 
den disaster had cut off in their prime and early bloom 
of usefulness ; women whose delicate frames had suc- 
cumbed to the hostile influences of an unfriendly climate, 
made more unbearable by deep loneliness and social 
desolation ; children whose young lives never knew the 
joy and freedom of Christian lands. On that lonely 
hillside, shaded by groves of the feathery bamboo, sur- 
rounded by the graves of their Chinese fellow-Christians, 
they lie in the hope of a glorious resurrection. Some 
have found a resting-place in Macao's shady retreat, 
beside the park enclosing the celebrated grotto of 
Camoens, and others in the Happy Valley, Hong- 
Kong's beautiful cemetery. Their dust commingling 
with the soil, their words sunk deep in many hearts, 
their books as living witnesses, and their spirits in the 
blessed companionship of the just, all unite in giving 
permanence to the work to which their lives were freely 
devoted, and continue as pledges of the glorious tri- 
umphs of the Cross of Christ over the wide dominions 
of the Dragon. 

13 



194 ^^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER X. 

PRESENT STATUS OF MISSION WORK. 

THE missionary enterprise in Canton has reached 
a point at which it can be presented to the world 
as a movement whose success is assured. In its general 
scope, in its practical organization, in its numerous and 
varied agencies, and in the wide field brought under 
immediate influence, it indicates a present activity and 
gives the hope of future expansion most encouraging to 
every sincere friend of the cause. Representatives of 
the leading churches in the Christian nations of Europe 
and America unite their forces in aggressive effort. 
These agents from the West are distributed among the 
various societies as follows : the London Mission has 
two ordained ministers; the Church Missionary Society 
of England has one; the Rhenish Mission, one; the 
Berlin Mission, connected with the Lutheran Church of 
Germany, has three ; the Wesleyan Society of England 
has five ministers and two physicians ; the Southern 
Baptist Mission of the United States has two ministers 
and three unmarried ladies; the Basel Mission has four- 
teen ordained ministers ; the Presbyterian Church has 
five ministers, two physicians, one of whom is a clergy- 
man, one layman, and six unmarried ladies, one of whom 
is a physician ; and the American Board, two ordained 



Present Status of Mission Work. 195 

ministers, — making a total of thirty-five ordained min- 
isters, four physicians, two of whom are clergymen, 
one layman, and nine unmarried ladies, one of whom is 
a physician. Of these, the sixteen connected with the 
Basel Mission and the American Board are either resi- 
dent in Hong-Kong or at points far in the interior of 
the province, leaving nineteen ministers who reside in, 
or whose work centres in, Canton city. To these num- 
bers given should be added in Canton seventeen, and in 
the interior twelve, wives of missionaries, who, while 
they are content to be represented by their husbands, 
are most important factors in the work, not only giving 
efficient aid by their sympathy and wise suggestions, 
but in many cases by direct superintendence of schools, 
systematic visitation among the women, and other meth- 
ods of activity. These combine at present to make 
a working force of forty-six in Canton and twenty- 
eight in other parts of the province, earnest men and 
women. The number varies at different times, increased, 
it may be, by fresh arrivals, and again reduced by sick- 
ness or other causes leading to the enforced absence of 
those engaged. The advantages of a large community 
like this, drawn together by common feelings and the 
interests of a common work, are many. The social 
relaxation afforded from the toil and anxiety of the 
actual work; the contact of different nationalities; the 
comparison of various methods, and the observation of 
the workings of diverse systems, are most beneficial. 
The mutual support and sympathy secured, the action 
and reaction of minds of varied shades and disposition, 
tend to restore the mental and spiritual equilibrium 



196 The Cross and the Dragon, 

which loneHness and self-absorption are apt to shake. 
The constant minghng, not only socially but in acts of 
worship, of Christians of various names, leads to a bet- 
ter understanding of the sterling qualities of all, and 
promotes the spirit of Christian unity. Associated with 
the missionaries is a large body of native assistants, con- 
sisting of ordained ministers to the number of twenty, 
evangelists and colporteurs of various grades to the 
number of one hundred and eleven, Bible-women to 
the number of thirty, and teachers to the number of one 
hundred and sixteen. The combination of talent and 
zeal displayed by this body of native helpers is striking, 
varying from the polished style and methodical discourse 
of the scholar to the rough-and-ready zeal of the con- 
verted artisan. They are the efficient coadjutors of the 
missionaries at every step of their work. Trained up 
under the direct supervision of the missionaries, they are, 
as a rule, filled with the same enthusiasm and love for 
the souls of men. Understanding, as foreigners never 
can, the modes of thought and dispositions of their 
countrymen, they are indispensable to the thorough 
administration of the affairs of the Church. Unem- 
barrassed by the curiosity or suspicion which the mis- 
sionary is sure to arouse, they can penetrate the houses 
of the people or the remote towns of the interior, and 
spread the knowledge of the truth in many ways not 
open to those from other lands. 

With all these agents, native and foreign, we look for 
something correspondingly extensive in the practical 
operations carried on. Beginning with the city of Can- 
ton, we take a cursory glance at the forms of work to 



Present Status of Mission Work. 197 

be seen in active operation there. As each Sabbath 
day comes round, you may find in different parts of the 
city ten Christian congregations assembled for the wor- 
ship of God. In grateful contrast to the ceaseless rush 
of traffic that knows no Sabbath, is the rest and the 
quiet of these sacred enclosures. Gathered in com- 
panies of from thirty or forty to three hundred or more, 
they come with reverent mien to worship the Lord of 




PRESBYTERIAN l\nSSION HOUSE. 

all. Presided over by a missionary, or one of their own 
number raised to the high office of the ministry, their 
service of praise and prayer, of reading and expounding 
God's word, is as hearty and inspiring as that of any 
assembly of Christians in other lands. They form a 
body distinct from the masses around them, and since 
the beginning of mission work have been steadily in- 
creasing in number, in knowledge, and in influence. 



198 The Cross and the Dragon, 

Comparing what is now seen continually on each Sab- 
bath day with the state of the Church even ten years 
ago, we are constrained to say, " See what God hath 
wrought ! " Whereas forty years ago the number of 
Christians in Canton could have been counted on the 
fingers of one hand, and whereas seven years ago the 
number reached was less than two thousand, yet now, 
as nearly as can be accurately ascertained, the number 
of native Christians connected with the various missions 
in Canton is over four thousand, with a large body of 
adherents in addition. If we add those connected with 
the missions in Hong-Kong and Swatow, the grand total 
presented is nearly seven thousand. Besides the formal 
gatherings in the churches may be seen Sabbath-schools 
in many places, where young and old are given special 
instruction, and the varied talent of the native member- 
ship used for the edification of others. 

Throughout the week the work goes on without ces- 
sation. The crowded populace of the metropolis, with 
the added thousands coming in from the country, fill 
the narrow streets with a ceaseless stream of human 
life; and on the more busy thoroughfares are fifteen 
chapels open for daily preaching to the multitudes that 
gather in. These preaching-halls are a great institution 
in Canton, and are open every day from two to four hours, 
with audiences varying from a few scores to several hun- 
dred each. The people come and go continually, some 
remaining but a few moments, others half an hour, and 
others for a longer time. After the missionary has 
preached, the native evangelists continue the service, and 
at the close ample opportunity is given for discussion. 



Present Status of Mission Work. 199 

Any who have become interested are invited to private 
conferences in the book-room adjoining, or at the house 
of the preacher. At the door, suppHes of Christian 
books arc kept for the accommodation of any who are 
desirous of pursuing their inquiries ; and on the outside 
of the door is hung a board, with an invitation, inscribed 
in large letters, urging all to enter and hear the truth. 
The time when the preaching-halls are thronged the 
most is during the hottest months in the summer, — July, 
August, and September; and the best time in the day to 
gather audiences is from noon until three o'clock, — the 
hottest part of the day. This makes it hard work for 
those who preach ; but we have to seize the opportunity 
when it comes, and suit ourselves to their time, for they 
will not suit themselves to ours. It is difficult to com- 
pute the many thousands who have heard the Gospel in 
these chapels. I have met men hundreds of miles in the 
interior who could repeat in substance the discourses 
heard, and have frequently been recognized by men in 
remote districts who attended these services. This is 
the great means of proclaiming the Gospel ; and as a 
large proportion of those who attend the services are 
strangers in the city, the truth is often carried far into 
the interior portions of the land. It is truly " casting 
bread upon the waters," — upon the streams of life that 
flow in all directions, carrying the seeds of truth to the 
remotest parts of the country. 

Education holds a prominent place in the work in 
Canton. While the present generation, so rapidly pass- 
ing away, claims a large share of our attention, yet the 
hopes of the grander triumphs and wide acceptance of 



200 The Cross and the Dragon, 

the truth in the future are ever kept in view. To se- 
cure the consummation of these hopes, special efforts 
are made to influence the young, and connected with 
the mission in Canton are one hundred schools of vari- 
ous grades. Most of these are in the city or its imme- 
diate vicinity, but many are at stations inland. Several 
schools of a higher grade have been estabHshed, but 
most of them are elementary. The average attendance 
of pupils is about two thousand five hundred, the aggre- 
gate reaching above three thousand. These schools are 
taught by Chinese teachers, and are superintended by 
the missionaries, who also give special instruction in 
important branches. From a few at first opened under 
great difficulties, looked upon with suspicion by the 
natives, and often with scarcely pupils enough to justify 
their continuance, they have increased in number and 
in favor until the present cheering results have been 
attained, and could be multiplied indefinitely were the 
means for carrying them on at our disposal. The good 
influence of the schools cannot be adequately measured. 
Evidences of their lasting benefit are constantly met 
with. A number, small compared with the aggregate 
attendance, continue their course of study for several 
years, pass into the higher grades, and in the end be- 
come teachers or preachers ; while the larger number 
return to their ordinary employments, many of them 
retaining a clear knowledge of the truth, which, after 
years have passed, sometimes leads them to a full accept- 
ance of Christianity. Years ago, in the village of Yun- 
ha-teen, ten miles north of Canton, a school was opened. 
It was continued for three years, and then abandoned as 



Present Status of Mission Work. 201 

unpromising. Ten years later a young man from the 
place appeared in Canton, and applied for baptism. 
His first impressions of the truth were traced back to 
that school, in which he was a pupil. A colporteur was 
sent to the village at his request, and found a general 
feeling favorable to Christianity. In answer to a peti- 
tion from the people, a school for boys and one for 
girls were opened, and the nucleus of a Christian church 
gathered. 

In imitation of the peerless example of Him who 
went about doing good, the missionary enterprise has 
united the work of healing with that of teaching. Often 
the forerunner of purely evangelistic work, it is ever its 
powerful coadjutor, and prepares the way for the favor- 
able reception of Christian truth. We have in Canton 
the great hospital, under wise and efficient manage- 
ment, at which the annual attendance of patients is 
numbered by tens of thousands. In addition to the 
immediate relief of suffering secured, thorough instruc- 
tion Is given to students of medicine, and the way pre- 
pared by which permanent and wide-spread benefits 
may accrue to the people. To those who look for im- 
mediate results, this branch of the work is ever the 
most popular, and commends itself also to the Chinese, 
both officials and people, by its purely benevolent char- 
acter. Dispensaries at various points in the interior 
extend its beneficent influence, and often secure the mis- 
sionaries a more friendly reception than would other- 
wise be accorded them. 

The department of special work for women has in 
recent years attained great prominence and importance, 



202 The Cross aiid the Dragon. 



and is constantly growing in efficiency. The ladies of 
the missions, with their corps of teachers and Bible- 
women, by means of their numerous schools and spe- 
cial meetings for women, by systematic visitation in the 
city, the villages adjacent, and more remote districts 
in the country, are gaining access to their sisters in 
China, bringing light and comfort to many whose lives 
are darkened by ignorance, superstition, and cruelty. 

The city of Canton presents such a vast field at their 
very doors, that the energies of all might be easily em- 
ployed there, without thought for what is beyond ; but 
the great desire has ever been to reach all parts of the 
country, and the efforts to accomplish this have been 
unceasing. Attracted by the wonderful facilities for 
travelling, extensive tours were made in the early days, 
and stations opened in many places. A bitter spirit of 
hostility has ever been manifested, and difficulties con- 
stantly thrown in the way by gentry and officials, so 
that, until recent years, the advance into the interior 
has been slow. Unremitting efforts have overcome 
many of the difficulties, and the country is now dotted 
with more than ninety out-stations in important centres, 
from which the light is penetrating on all sides. More 
than a score of years ago, the Basel Mission occupied 
important posts near the head-waters of the East River, 
and have had missionaries resident there continually. 
To them belongs the honor of making the earliest ad- 
vance inland, and their success in gathering a Christian 
community of over one thousand communicants is 
given as an example of what has been accomplished. 
With a score of outposts around the principal centres, 



Present Status of Mission Work, 203 

and numerous schools and chapels, they occupy a dis- 
tinct portion of the field, separated geographically from 
that of other missions. From Canton as a centre the 
work radiates in all directions. As we go up the rivers 
and along the main lines of travel, these fourscore and 
ten stations, at distances varying from ten to three hun- 
dred miles, are found. A tour of these stations gives 
one a vivid conception of the widening influence of 
Gospel work. Various causes have led to the occupa- 
tion of these particular points. Some, in populous 
centres, have been opened from a conviction of the im- 
portance of the places as bases of operation ; in others, 
a group of two or three Christians attached to the 
churches in Canton have been the leading cause; and, 
in a few instances, the general friendliness of the people, 
and the desire expressed to have schools established 
among them, have guided the action of the missionaries. 
Within a radius of ten miles from Canton there are seven 
or eight such stations, mostly day-schools, where regular 
services are held on the Sabbath and meetings for Bible 
study conducted in the evening by the teacher, or the 
assistant who visits the schools. Extending toward the 
east, between Canton and the field of the Basel Mission, 
are eight or more chapels connected with the Berlin 
Mission, one of them in the large city of Tung-kun, 
which, after being twice destroyed, is now permanently 
established. In this direction are four stations con- 
nected with the Presbyterian Mission, the most impor- 
tant of these being in the city of Shek-Lung, a place 
noted for its turbulent population and sudden mobs. 
This town was the scene of the destruction of the 



204 1^^^ Cross and the Dragon, 

German Mission houses during the " gods and genii " 
powder excitement, and remained unoccupied for ten 
years. A small company of Christians belonging to 
the church in Canton, but resident here, presented a 
petition for a chapel, which was granted on the condi- 
tion that these Christians should do their utmost toward 
paying the rent. A flourishing work was inaugurated, 
and three years later a church of twenty-eight members 
was formed, under most favorable prospects, which has 
since increased in numbers and efficiency. Last year a 
violent mob assaulted the chapel, destroying the furni- 
ture and property of the assistants, and injuring some 
of the Christians. This spread dismay among the band 
of believers for a time, but under the faithful and judi- 
cious management of the native preacher, they have 
been kept together, the chapel, fully repaired, has been 
reopened under official protection, and the hope of 
great future prosperity is encouraging. At Liu-p6, in 
the centre of a populous farming district, another 
church has been formed, with twenty-five members ; and 
through the zealous and untiring labors of the young 
preacher in charge, the scores of immense villages in 
the vicinity are being systematically worked up. 

Further up the river we find, in the Pok-loh district, 
a group of six stations connected with the London 
Mission. After many vicissitudes, in which several of 
the Christians have been severely tried in the furnace 
of affliction, they have entered upon a course of quiet 
but steady progress. 

Directly north of Canton, in the Tsung-fa valley, a 
beautiful agricultural district, is found the station of 



Present Status of Mission Work, 205 

Chuk-Liu, sustained by the Presbyterians. It is the 
centre of a circle of market towns, which hold fairs 
on successive days, to each of which is attached a 
coterie of villages, from nine to thirty-six in number 
each. Toward the head-waters of this stream are two 
stations of the London Mission, one of them near the 
district city, with a church of forty members, whose 
influence is felt increasingly over the surrounding coun- 
try. Ten miles further we find a church opened by the 
members of the Baptist Mission in the village of Shek- 
hung, supported by native contributions. After a course 
of violent opposition on the part of the people, it has 
been firmly established, and evidences of the fidelity 
of the Christians there are most apparent. 

To the west of this valley, in the native district of the 
great Tai-ping chief, the German Mission has a group 
of flourishing stations, with a large body of Christians, 
among whom are found some men of learning and in- 
fluence. To the west of Canton, in the great city of 
Fat-shan, we find the Wesleyan and London Missions 
strongly intrenched. The former, with missionaries resi- 
dent and a large hospital, are making a deep impression 
on the people. Chapels, in which daily preaching simi- 
lar to that in Canton is carried on, and several strong 
churches stand as proof that the truth is taking deep 
root. Along the North River and its tributaries are 
found several stations of the Baptist Mission, the most 
important of these being in the city of Tsing-iin. Here, 
as elsewhere, in the beginning, bitter opposition and 
violence were encountered, but strength was given them 
to prevail ; and a church of forty members, with a native 



2o6 The Cross and the Dragon, 

pastor, whose support is provided by the Chinese there 
and elsewhere, has been gathered, and has given many 
tokens of hfe and activity. 

At the head-waters of the Lien-chow stream, the prin- 
cipal branch of the North River, in the city of the same 
name, is a station of the Presbyterian Mission, three 
hundred miles by water from Canton. Here, too, the 
story of official interference and opposition incited by 
the ruling classes has been repeated, and the hopes 
of securing sites for mission houses disappointed. 
Chapel, school, and dispensary afford good facility for 
work, and the friendly disposition of the people makes 
it a very hopeful field. 

Returning to the North River, we reach the city of 
Shiu-kwan, two hundred and fifty miles from Canton, 
where the Wesleyans are established in good quarters, 
with a flourishing work around them. With excep- 
tional good fortune they have secured the friendship 
of the leading gentry, are on the best of terms with the 
officials, and find the people everywhere accessible and 
civil in their deportment. With missionaries resident 
they have established an important centre of work, and 
have in hand one of the most promising fields in the 
province. A line of stations easily accessible by water 
extends the influence of their work. The district city 
of Ying-tak is the seat of one of these stations, in 
connection with which some remarkable instances of 
conversion have occurred. Mong-fu-kong has shown 
a larger accession of members than any one station 
of the Canton Missions in the past year. The good 
judgment and energy of the missionaries have secured 



Present Status of Mission Woi'k, 207 

for them a prestige that augurs great things for the 
future. 

On the extreme northern border, in the city of Nam- 
hung, near the foot of the great Mui-Hng pass, on the 
highway from the north provinces to the south, the 
Germans have a station, at which a native minister, 
educated in Germany, has labored for years. Toward 
the west we find in Shiu-hing, the old capital of the 
province, a Baptist church of eighty members, long 
established, while in the country around are several 
minor stations. The Church Mission has also a chapel 
there and several further up the river. At Ng-chow, 
the chief city of the province, and just within the 
borders of Kwong-si, the Baptists hope soon to re- 
open their chapel, closed through the violence of the 
people, instigated in their hostility by the gentry. 

To the south, in the great rice and silk districts, are 
several stations, in Ch'an-tsiin, Lung-kong, Heung-shan, 
and elsewhere. The bitter hostility of the people of 
this district has made it difficult to secure locations 
in the numerous towns and cities, but much has been 
done among them in the way of itineration. In the 
great districts to the southwest, from which such num- 
bers have emigrated to America and Australia, the 
Presbyterians have six stations, the Church Mission 
four, the Wesleyans three, and the American Board two. 
Two of these are in the important commercial city of 
Kong-mun, where, after much opposition, they have 
become well established. Two others are in the city 
of San-ui, from which, as a centre, an -unusually large 
population can be reached. The others are all further 



2o8 The Cross and the Dragon. 

west, the most important among them being in Chik- 
hom, where a church of twenty-five members has be- 
come self-supporting. The island of Hainan, long an 
unknown country, has within the last three years been 
occupied in a measure, a station and dispensary being 
formed in the port of Hoi-how, and a chapel among the 
Hakkas in the centre of the island. Each of these 
stations, with its preacher and, as in many cases, its 
school, is the centre of light and influence for the sur- 
rounding country. Their number and distribution show 
how widely the work has spread, and how from these, 
as new points of departure, minor circuits may be 
established, and towers of light raised that shall diffuse 
their radiance over broad expanses of territory. Every 
station has a history of its own that would repay a 
deeper study than we are able to give it in this general 
view. There they stand as outposts of the advancing 
hne of conquest, some grouped within circles of com- 
paratively small diameter, and others isolated in re- 
mote districts, but all of them golden candlesticks in 
which the oil of truth, kindled into radiance by the 
Spirit of light, feeds that living flame before whose 
brightness, darkness and error must flee. 

The annexed table gives in brief compass the sta- 
tistics of the work as it stands at present. 

The people in Canton are divided into t^vo classes, 
known as Pun-ti, '' natives of the soil," and Hakka, "the 
strangers." The former are the pure Cantonese, and 
compose the great bulk of the people. They are the 
rich and powerful, and their dialect is the one used 
by most of the missionaries. It is spoken in its purity 



Present Status of Mission Work. 209 







American Baptist, South . . 
Basel Mission, German . . 
Berlin Mission, German . . 
Church Mission, English. . 
London Mission, English 
American Presbyterian . 
English Wesleyan .... 

American Board 

Rhenish Mission, German . 


«— 1 
> 
SI 

> 

1 


"G 


mmoo*;k>moo,So» 


Foreign missionaries. 


: M w : : oj 00 ^ 


Native ordained min- 
isters. 


vO 1 ■ « « MM 1 Native evangelists 
v,|: Mc^^^ooo4.4.^o | and cateclTists. 


.2 ': : w N : : : : Colporteurs. 


<3: : (jJ^MMMMLn Bible-women. 


Sv 


: .J^ « M ui 4^ 


School-teachers. 


»Jl: :oi": wwot Girls' schools. 




S. ^ ; ■ M 00 
00 M . ON " 4^ 


Average attendance. 


S 1 : - . i : . . ^ . 


Boys' schools. 


<i» w oj : K) CO 


Average attendance. 


. h : i " : : - " ^ 


Boarding-schools for 
girls or women. 


1 . . . -I Traininj^-schools for 
"^ 1 : : : M : : M ^ ■ | young men. 


j;; ;.p.osij: ►,: t^l Chapels in city. 


5°: -S5)ooooM>oo Stations interior. 


1 


M C\O^^Ln COOO 


Native Christians. 


M : : ^ ^ : : : : : 1 Hospitals. 


- 1 i ;-.;;;: ►. 


Dispensaries. 


M 

00 


-^^ 00 . . . « 

M « 1 M M 8 


Patients. 


^ 


M 1 1 M M r 


Operations. 


- 1 :::-::;:: j Medical students. 



14 



2IO The Cross and the Di^agon, 

in the provincial city, the people who live in the 
western suburbs claiming to use it with greater refine- 
ment of accent and idiom than any others. It is under- 
stood by nearly all the people in the central and western 
portions of the province, and to a great extent by the 
people in the southern part of the province of Kwong- 
si. It affords access to about twenty milHons of people, 
and is therefore the language chiefly used in mission 
work in Canton. The Hakkas, or strangers, called 
sometimes " squatters," have come from the north, and, 
gradually acquiring territory, have occupied a great 
portion of the country to the northeast. They are a 
hardy, pushing race. Advancing slowly but surely, 
they occupy first the upland valleys, and, by thrift and 
economy, are soon able to possess the more fertile 
portions of the lower plains. Holding tenaciously to 
their possessions, they are gradually gaining footholds 
in the central and northern portions of the province. 
Their language is quite distinct from the Cantonese; 
so that missionaries laboring among them usually give 
their whole time to the study of the Hakka dialect. 
Most of the German Missions are among these people, 
and a large section of the London Mission's work. 
They are more accessible than the Cantonese, and every- 
where reward the labor expended on them by larger 
and more speedy returns. They are found in increas- 
ing numbers in Canton, and their dialect is becoming 
the prevailing one throughout the country districts to 
the north. The difficulty of learning one language has 
made the acquisition of two a task attempted by but 
few; so that there is a division of speech in Canton, 



Present Status of Mission Work, 2 1 1 

some being designated as Hakka and others as Pun-ti 
missionaries. Besides these two main divisions there 
are in Canton about one hundred thousand people who 
speak the mandarin or Court dialect. These are chiefly 
the Tartars, who form the garrison of the city, and who 
live in a quarter by themselves. They form a distinct 
element in the population, and while many of them 
understand Cantonese, yet any efficient work for them 
must be done through the medium of their own pecuHar 
speech. A promising work is now going on among 
them ; the leading men who have been converted speak 
Cantonese, and through them the great body of their 
associates can be reached. 

The foundations have been deeply laid, a great amount 
of preparatory work has been done, and the missions 
placed on a good working basis. The cause is no longer 
on trial. The period of experiment, in the narrow sense 
of testing the practicability of the enterprise, has been 
passed, and a position reached where we can challenge 
the world, and answer each caviller by practical facts 
gleaned from actual experience, and point to the 
progress and prospects of the work as a standing an- 
swer to all objectors. The organization of the work, 
though far from complete, is such that no ordinary 
trouble or opposition is likely to overthrow it; and 
even in the event of war, the hold the truth has gained 
over the native church is such as to give strong con- 
fidence to the hope that their faith would survive the 
severest tests, and they remain faithful witnesses for 
the truth though all help from Christian lands were 
withdrawn. 



2 12 The Cross and the Dragon. 

Having sketched in outline the history of the work 
in the past, and taken this hurried glance at its present 
status, we are prepared to examine its particular phases 
more closely, as they pass under review in the following 
chapters. 




TREASURY STREET CHAPEL, CANTON. 



CHAPTER XI. 

FOREIGN AGENTS. 



TN considering the question of prolonged residence, 
the climate of Canton becomes a matter of impor- 
tance. The coast-line of China extends for three thou- 
sand five hundred miles, nearly one third of which forms 



2 1 4 The Cross and the Dragon, 

the ocean frontage of Canton province. This proximity 
to the sea has a salubrious effect upon the cHmate of the 
seaboard districts, securing to them the benefit of the 
mvigorating monsoon that blows steadily from the south- 
east during the six months of spring and summer, the 
contrary current of wind from the northwest, during 
the months of autumn and winter, being often broken 
by the ranges of mountains to the north. The interior 
districts are hilly and mountainous, where numerous 
streams of clear, running water and pure mountain air 
furnish the climatic conditions of health and comfort. 

Canton may be compared, in situation and climate, to 
New Orleans. On the same latitude with Calcutta, it is 
far superior, in point of healthiness, to that city. The 
rainy season in the spring is disagreeable, and the long 
summer very trying. From May until October the heat 
continues without interruption. The mercury seldom 
reaches one hundred in the shade, but frequently ranges 
from ninety to ninety-five, with a temperature of from 
eighty-five to ninety degrees through the night. The 
abundance of mosquitoes adds to the discomforts of 
the heat. No mountain resorts or seaside cottages are 
available, so that the summer is a season to be endured, 
but not enjoyed. From October until January we have 
the perfection of good weather, — the American Indian 
summer prolonged and idealized. In the winter frost 
is a rare occurrence, but a chill, damp atmosphere 
makes fire and heavy clothing necessary for several 
months. The trees remain evergreen and flowers bloom 
perpetually. The only serious drawback to the climate 
is that the winter is not bracing enough to counteract 



Foreign Agents, 215 



the enervating effects of the long, hot summer, so that 
a change is required every few years to recuperate the 
physical system. 

The habits of life among the residents in Canton are 
adapted, in a great measure, to the special requirements 
of the country and climate. It is impossible to repro- 
duce in every detail the style and regulations of house- 
hold life as seen in America or England. Judgment and 
moderation are observed in all things. Experience has 
shown that it is unwise, and in some cases suicidal, to 
attempt to live as the natives do. In the early days, 
missionaries were compelled to live in native houses, 
where they suffered greatly from dampness and want of 
proper drainage, besides many other evils and discom- 
forts; while in the matter of food and furniture the rigid 
economy practised in many cases proved most expensive 
in the end. The seeds of disease were laid, and strong 
constitutions undermined. The constant changes re- 
quired to preserve the health, and the enforced retire- 
ment of many from the field, involved losses and expenses 
of the most serious nature. With experience has come 
wisdom; and all the missionaries are now found in 
airy, substantial, and comfortable houses, — very modest 
structures compared with the residences of the mer- 
chants or those of the consular and customs officials, or 
even with many of the manses and parsonages attached 
to churches in this land. 

In the matter of housekeeping, economy is the rule. 
Each family has two servants, or at the most three, who 
are employed at wages varying from four to five dollars 
a month, and always provide for themselves; so that for 



2i6 The Cross and the Dragon. 

nine dollars a month, a lady may be relieved from the 
drudgery of household work, and be in a position to 
devote her time and energy to more important matters. 
It would be simple folly, involving not only great hard- 
ship but much additional expense, to reject the help so 
easily obtained ; and would in a few years, probably, end 
in the missionary being obliged to give up his work on 
account of ill-health. To secure the respect of the 
people, it is necessary to assume a proper dignity, and 
appear to them as people of assured social position and 
refinement. Any attempt to bring ourselves down to a 
level with the masses would simply destroy the influence 
naturally belonging to one's position, and expose one to 
innumerable petty annoyances. 

Certain travellers have indulged in adverse criticism 
of what they termed the luxurious style of living 
adopted by the missionaries. Such hasty judgments 
are seldom warranted by the facts. These travellers 
come by the score every year, with or without letters of 
introduction, and in the absence of any good hotel are 
received into the houses of the missionaries. Hospi- 
tality survives even a long residence in Canton ; and the 
larder is ransacked and the markets searched to pro- 
vide suitable entertainment for the guests. The table, 
with its spotless linen, the dishes, perhaps of painted 
Chinese ware, the cheapest there, but rare in other 
lands, the food handed deftly by a neat Chinese lad in 
long blue tunic, are keenly noted. The large rooms and 
spacious verandahs, the lawn with trees and flowers, are 
all remarked. A week or ten days elapse before the 
guests depart, and the missionary is compelled to prac- 



Foreign Agents. 217 

tise the strictest economy for weeks in consequence ; 
but is comforted by the thought that the interest in 
mission work awakened will more than compensate for 
any discomfort or expense to himself To his dismay 
he finds that he is accused of extravagance, and repre- 
sented as living in idleness and luxury, when, as a 
matter of fact, his yearly income would not amount to 
what his guests, it may be, have expended in a few days 
on useless curios. Others come who declare their great 
joy in seeing the missionaries in good houses, and say it 
is only what they deserve. It is not, however, a matter 
of desert, but of necessity. Their health and efficiency 
require it. Hardship and discomfort should not be 
courted, but endured bravely when necessary; and it is 
the simple truth to say that no body of Christian work- 
ers are more ready to practise self-denial and undergo 
physical trials when good can be accomplished, than 
the missionaries in Canton, and that they do so con- 
tinually in their residence in the interior and on the 
long tours of itineration made. Among the travellers 
who come are many whom we esteem it an honor to 
entertain ; whose intelligent interest in the people and 
our work make it a pleasure to escort them through the 
city; while the links of friendship formed bind us not 
simply as individuals together, but strengthen the cords 
that unite the Church at home with its outposts in 
heathen lands. The social amenities of Canton are 
greater than those at most stations. Placed at intervals 
along the river, the mission houses are within easy reach 
of each other, and the monotony of daily routine is 
broken by the pleasures of social intercourse. Weekly 



2i8 The Cross and the Dragon. 

prayer-meetings bring the various missions together ; 
while a union service on Sabbath evening, at which the 
missionaries preach in turn, draws many from the gen- 
eral community and promotes friendliness and cordiality 
among all. 

The first impressions of those who come from Chris- 
tian lands on their arrival in the city of Canton vary 
with the temperament and zeal of the individual. To 
some there comes a feeling of joy that they have reached 
the scene of their life-work ; to others a sense of sadness 
and disappointment, or of hopelessness, as the ignorance 
and degradation of the people are brought vividly before 
them. The first year of the missionary's life in Canton, 
as elsewhere, is in many respects the most trying. From 
the overflowing sympathy of friends and associates, from 
an active Christian life, he comes, by a sudden transition, 
into the midst of a people so totally different from any 
known before, that he can hardly realize the change. 
The strangeness and novelty, the constant panorama of 
Oriental life passing before his eyes, the tawdry pageants 
and the squalid poverty, the myriads of boats, with their 
teeming population, — all the infinitely varied details of 
shop life, street life, home life, and boat life are fascinat- 
ing and keep the mind occupied for a while ; but a time 
of depression is almost sure to come, a reaction from 
the high pressure of excitement and lofty zeal. It is 
not a feeling of homesickness merely, although that is 
often experienced ; it is not simply sorrow of heart at 
the superstition and misery so painfully exhibited on 
every side ; it is chiefly a feeling of helplessness in the 
very presence of the work he is longing to do. The 



2 20 The Cross and the Dragon, 

people are there, and their need of instruction is too 
painfully evident; but his mouth is closed. Before him 
rises that great barrier, the Chinese language, that must 
be overcome. It may not be disregarded, but must be 
mastered and made the great instrument of reaching 
the people ; so that the first thing to be done is to sit 
down with a Chinese teacher by his side and attack this 
gigantic difficulty, and by pure act of memory gain a 
sufficient vocabulary to converse with the people. The 
acquisition of Chinese is no child's play. It is fre- 
quently said that people may " pick up " a knowledge 
of certain languages, but no one ever heard of " picking 
up " the Chinese. It is not to be " picked up," but can 
only be acquired by patient, persistent toil, the hardest 
possible kind of mental drudgery. I had a friend who, 
in his leisurely tour of the world, contrived in each 
country visited to acquire a vocabulary sufficient for his 
immediate wants. As he approached Canton he was 
supplied with phrase-books, and prepared himself with a 
few sentences ; but after one or two attempts to speak 
them gave up in despair. Men have lived in Canton 
for scores of years, in constant intercourse with the 
people, and not been able to pronounce one sentence 
correctly. 

The spoken language is usually acquired first, and a 
period of from one to three years is required in its study 
before one is able to preach or to speak with any degree 
of fluency. After a few months of constant application, 
light begins to dawn, and the awkward, meaningless 
sentences gradually become intelligible ; but the begin- 
ner is deterred from exercising his vocabulary by the 



Foreigii Agents. 221 

dread of humiliating blunders. The tones are the lion 
in the way. He can acquire the pronunciation as indi- 
cated by Roman letters; but to distinguish between 
chii on a level tone, meaning " pig," and chW with 
a rising inflection, meaning ** lord," or chit in a de- 
parting tone, meaning " all," or *' many," becomes a 
difficult task. He is confronted with the story of the 
young German missionary whose longing to preach led 
him to the early exercise of his gifts. The stolid atten- 
tion of his audience gave him the impression that every 
word was going straight home. He pursued his theme 
until he came to the description of the New Jerusalem, 
which he gave in his best style, dilating upon the golden 
streets, the gates of pearl, and all the details of that 
wondrous picture ; but what was his dismay when one 
of his auditors asked, " Do you really mean to tell us 
that the gates of Heaven are made of pork ? " This 
sudden descent from the sublime to the ridiculous was 
occasioned by the fact that the word for " pearl " and 
the word for " pork " are identical in sound. He had 
made a stronger point, however, than he supposed ; for 
the prospect of an abundance of pork is more attractive 
to the ordinary Chinaman's mind than all the garniture of 
pearls and precious stones. To this story is added the 
experience of a good Baptist brother, who, annoyed by 
a crowd of boys that pursued him in the street, turned 
and sternly told them, as he supposed, to go home ; but 
in reality commanded them, in language more forcible 
than elegant, to betake themselves to the companion- 
ship of that individual of whose personality and diverse 
activity we in China have very little doubt. This little 



2 22 The Cross and the Dragon, 

mistake was caused by his saying hii-kwai^ when he 
should have said hu-kwai, the latter expression, with the 
second syllable uttered in a level tone, meaning, " to go 
home," and the former, with a rising inflection on the 
same syllable, meaning, " to go to the devil." To make 
the application still wider, the blunder of an English 
missionary is recited, who, in performing the marriage 
ceremony, wished to say that the parties were joined 
together until death should part them, but in so many 
words declared them to be united as husband and wife 
until the foitrth day ; this intimation of easy divorce 
arising from the fact that in attempting to say ' sz-yat 
(rising inflection on the first syllable), "the day of 
death," he said sz'-yat (first syllable in the departing 
tone), "the fourth day." And to make the circle com- 
plete, the experience of an American Presbyterian is 
added, who, when preaching on the grand theme of the 
** Fatherhood of God," was horrified to hear the people 
saying one to another, '* What does this man mean by 
talking to us of his * crazy father ' ? " the only difference 
in the expressions T'een-fu, ** Heavenly Father," and 
teen-fii, "crazy father," being, that in the former the 
first syllable is aspirated by a strong expulsion of the 
breath, and in the latter this is omitted. These exam- 
ples, to which many more might be added, will sufl[ice 
to show that the change of tone from a lower to a 
higher, or from a rising to a falling one, may alter the 
whole meaning of a sentence and produce great con- 
fusion. 

These difficulties disappear after a time, and constant 
practice gives an accuracy and fluency that call forth the 



Foreign Agents, 223 

highest commendations of the Chinese, who not infre- 
quently say of certain missionaries that they speak the 
language better than the natives themselves, being struck 
with the peculiar force and fluency ol their diction. The 
acquisition of the spoken language is but the beginning. 
There is in addition the language of the books, which 
must be mastered, in a measure at least, before access 
can be gained to the stores of learning shut up in the 
voluminous literature of the Chinese. This language 
differs from all others. It is, to a great extent, ideo- 
graphic; but, unlike other ancient languages of the 
same character, such as the Egyptian, which began by 
the use of signs and hieroglyphics, but gradually formed 
an alphabet, it has still retained its original character, — 
these signs, after undergoing certain modifications, be- 
coming fixed in their present form. Characters for the 
expression of new ideas have been formed by a process 
of accretion, where original signs were not available. 
This has produced an accumulation of fixed characters, 
each monosyllabic in sound, to the number of many 
thousands, — some placing the number above one hun- 
dred thousand, while the lowest estimate, given by Dr. 
Williams, is twenty-five thousand. Each of these is 
distinct from the other, no one of them being a help to 
the sound or meaning of another. In the Imperial Dic- 
tionary, these characters are arranged under two hundred 
and fourteen radicals, which, while not an alphabet, are 
of great service in classifying the otherwise unwieldy 
mass. They also give some clew to the meaning, but 
in this are not to be relied upon. In the old phonetic 
dictionary are given three hundred primitives, which 



2 24 ^^^ Cross and the Dragon, 

combine with the radicals to form most of the charac- 
ters, and give some hint as to their sound. A knowledge 
of the original construction of the characters is most 
useful in acquiring the language, but most of them have 
to be learned by pure act of memory, with but little 
help from any system of construction or association of 
ideas. The best means of fixing them in the mind is to 
write them in Chinese style with a camel's hair pencil 
and India ink, and in this work there is scope for much 
artistic talent. In the grammatical construction of the 
language there is no conjugation of verbs, no declension 
of nouns, and but little use for pronouns. The verb is 
a very simple affair; while adjectives appear unencum- 
bered by case-endings or distinctions of gender. In 
every Chinese sentence, the elements of which it is 
composed are arranged in the following order : the sub- 
ject, the verb, the complement direct, and the comple- 
ment indirect. Much depends upon the idiom, which, 
combined with the extreme conciseness of the language, 
often renders it ambiguous. The cultivation of a high 
literary style engages the constant attention of Chinese 
scholars ; and the style most approved is so obscure as 
to be incomprehensible to persons of average education. 
Their aim seems to be to hide away their ideas beyond 
the reach of common minds. 

The missionary who has made himself familiar with 
the contents of the Four Books and the Five Classics, 
and acquired an accurate knowledge of six or seven 
thousand characters, is prepared for all ordinary work. 
The language and the literature it enshrines present 
an almost boundless field which might engage the 



Foreign Agents. 225 

energies of a lifetime, so that few, if any, may be said 
to have mastered the whole ; and even native schol- 
ars of the highest reputation may be confronted with 
words of whose sound and meaning they are ignorant. 
The same written language is used over the whole Em- 
pire, and is, in its simpler forms, the means of commu- 
nication among the masses of the people in all matters 
of business, government, or literature. It is so concise, 
and contains so many words of a similar sound, that 
when read aloud, even to a company of scholars, it 
would not be understood ; and it is quite possible for 
a man to hear his own compositions read in his hearing 
without recognizing them. The assistance of the eye is 
indispensable, and the spoken language must constantly 
be called in to coUoquialize what is read aloud to an 
assembly. 

When the difficulties of the language have, to some 
degree, been mastered, a field of activity is opened 
where every form of talent may be utilized to the fullest 
extent. Whether a man excels in but one thing or is 
many-sided in his qualifications, there is full scope for 
his energies. A glance at the various departments shows 
how multiform is the work to be done. Is a man a 
preacher? The opportunities for proclaiming the truth 
are simply unlimited. Has he special qualifications for 
and inclinations toward the work of teaching? No more 
promising field for his energies could be desired than 
is found in Canton. From the children struggling with 
the elementary branches up to the keen philosopher and 
ambitious scholar, all grades of intellect and acquire- 
ments invite the Christian educator. Is he a physician? 

15 



2 26 The Cross and the Dragon. 

There wait the people, suffering from diseases which 
their ill-taught practitioners are helpless to relieve ; 
while in the field of medical science is felt a want that 
should be supplied, and a readiness to learn shown that 
should encourage the benevolent physician. For ladies, 
as teachers, evangelists, or physicians, the millions of 
women easily accessible present a sphere of vast oppor- 
tunities and of wonderful possibilities. 

To the man of letters, with his scholarly attainments, 
the work of translation and the preparation of books in 
every department of knowledge present an earnest call. 
In each of these great departments of work Canton has 
been well represented. The talent engaged has been of 
no mean order, and the results accomplished stand as 
proofs of the learning and zeal engaged. A complete 
collection of the works produced would form a library 
of at least one hundred good-sized volumes. In the 
work of translation two lines have been followed, along 
which the fruits of mental toil are thickly scattered. In 
one direction the storehouse of Chinese literature has 
been unlocked. This, in the first instance, was done by 
the preparation of dictionaries, two of which, by Morri- 
son and Williams, have already been referred to. To 
these should be added the Dictionary of the Cantonese 
Dialect, by Rev. J. Chalmers, LL.D, a most useful book 
to students acquiring the language, and a concise Dic- 
tionary in Chinese from the same pen, in which Kang- 
hi's bulky work of thirty-two volumes has been condensed 
into three, and so rearranged as to give the greatest 
facility in searching for words and quotations. At the 
head of translations from the Chinese, stands Dr. Legge's 



Foreign Agents, 227 

edition of the Classics, in ten large volumes, in which the 
English reader finds faithfully reproduced the standard 
works of the nation, with sketches of the authors and 
compilers, and a comprehensive view of the extensive 
literature that has grown up around them. Next to 
these are placed Rev. E. Faber's valuable treatises : " A 
Systematic Digest of the Doctrines of Confucius," "The 
Mind of Mencius," ** The Philosophy of Micius and 
Licius." Of these, originally issued in German, the first 
two have been translated into English. In these and 
various other works Mr. Faber has given to the world 
the rich fruits of long years of deep and extensive study, 
every production of his pen bearing the stamp of sound 
learning, clear understanding of his subject, and full 
grasp of its practical bearings. Translations of the 
standard works of Taoism, Buddhism, and general lit- 
erature have been made, and original works on the relig- 
ious systems and the various customs and practices of 
the Chinese have been prepared. These numerous 
publications place within the reach of the student, unac- 
quainted with the language, ample means for gaining 
full information as to the history, literature, religion, 
and life of the people. 

Of greater importance for the practical success of mis- 
sions, are the works prepared on the other line, in which 
translations have been made of the standard works of 
Christianity and science, and a large number and variety 
of original works prepared to meet the special needs of the 
time. First in magnitude and importance are the transla- 
tions of the Bible, of which several versions have appeared. 
These versions are by no means perfect; but the para- 



2 28 The Cross and the Dragon, 

mount importance of giving the people direct access to 
the Sacred Word made their early production necessary. 
Repeated revisions are gradually removing defects and 
preparing the way for a version of the Scriptures more 
accurate as a translation and more acceptable in the 
style of its composition than any yet produced. Fol- 
lowing this work have come commentaries based on the 
text of these versions, opening more fully the treasures 
of divine truth. The language of the books being the 
common property of the whole Empire, the works pre- 
pared in one part are available for all ; those produced in 
Canton doing good service in other provinces, while we 
receive the benefit of all that has been done in the same 
line elsewhere. Among the works of this class, " Dis- 
courses on the Gospel of Mark," in five volumes, by Mr. 
Faber, takes a high place, for its comprehensive treatment 
of the principles of Christianity, its popular style, and 
lucid inculcation of practical truth. An extensive work 
on the Life of Christ, by Mr. Selby, presents the facts 
and teachings of our Lord's life in a systematic and 
available form that will prove of great service to the 
native church. Commentaries on most of the New Tes- 
tament are now in the hands of the native preachers 
and other students of the Bible, but an immense work 
still remains to be done in this direction. Hundreds of 
tracts and small books containing the statement of fun- 
damental doctrines, or the refutation of specific errors, 
or popular appeals to arouse attention, have been pre- 
pared and scattered broadcast. The preparation of text- 
books for schools has received constant attention ; and 
treatises on geography, arithmetic, natural philosophy, 



Foreign Agents. 229 

and chemistry have been pubhshed, which, combined 
with the productions of the northern missions, form 
an educational series in which almost every branch of 
learning taught in Christian lands is represented. Books 
on theology, church history, homiletics, on practical 
duties, devotional works, and others of a general charac- 
ter meet, in a measure, the demand for instruction, and 
lay the foundations of Christian knowledge. 

The use of the colloquial in religious and educational 
works is advocated by the major portion of the mission- 
aries. Some object to it as lacking in dignity and con- 
trary to Chinese usage; but the practical question is, 
whether we shall make knowledge easy of acquisition, 
or, by following the methods of the Chinese from time 
immemorial, make it as difficult as possible. The 
colloquial is the language of every-day life. It is used 
alike by scholars, tradesmen, and laborers, and is popu- 
larly known as the pak-wa, ** white " or " clear speech." 
Every item of knowledge must be rendered into the 
vernacular before it can be understood by the people. 
It is not low in the sense of being coarse and unrefined. 
The language of the books is not spoken ; and the answer 
to those who contend that it would be lowering the dig- 
nity of the Sacred Word to translate it into the vernac- 
ular, is that in every sermon and in every exposition of 
divine truth, the Scripture must be colloquialized before 
it can be brought to the comprehension of the hearers. 
The question at issue, then, is whether it is better to pre- 
pare as thorough and as accurate a version as possible 
in colloquial beforehand, or trust to hap-hazard para- 
phrases at the time of speaking. The pure Cantonese 



230 The Cross and the Dragon, 

dialect is the one most widely spoken in the province ; 
it is fixed in its idiomatic construction, and has been 
systematized and used to a limited extent in the pub- 
lication of books by the Chinese. All the words, with 
but few exceptions, can be represented by authorized 
characters, a few of them being used in the colloquial 
as distinct from the classical sense. The great advan- 
tage of this style of composition is its simplicity and 
the ease with which it can be understood when read 
aloud. In churches, when the Bible is read from the 
classical version, no one understands what is read unless 
he has a copy of the Bible before him, and follows the 
reader; but when the same chapter is read from the 
colloquial version it is understood immediately by all 
who hear. The difference between the two has not 
inaptly been set forth by drawing a parallel between the 
use of Latin a few hundred years ago and the use of the 
vernacular. It was not until the Bible was translated 
into the common language of the people that it became 
a power in England. The same is true in Canton ; and 
the vernacular is not an uncouth, illiterate patois, but the 
constant medium of polite intercourse among the most 
highly educated of the people. These considerations 
have led to the cultivation of this dialect; and by a joint 
committee, on which English, Germans, and Americans 
were united, a union version of the Gospels and Acts was 
produced, and a standard of good colloquial adopted. 
With this committee, were associated several Chinese 
scholars of high attainment, who entered into the work 
with much zeal. The result is one in every way satis- 
factory, and the version is now extensively used. It has 



Foreign Agents. 231 

even been introduced by some Chinese teachers into 
their schools, and the boys who have learned from it 
astonish their parents by their clear understanding of 
the passages committed to memory. The remainder of 
the New Testament in this style will soon be issued, 
while portions of the Old Testament are in course 
of preparation. Text-books for primary schools have 
been published in it, and the children show great interest 
in learning the pages they can easily comprehend. 
" Pilgrim's Progress," " Peep of Day," and *' Bible Les- 
sons in Matthew and Mark " have been published in 
this dialect. In work among the women it is of special 
advantage. From the colloquial version they often gain 
by the simple reading of it a clearer knowledge of the 
meaning than some of the preachers do from the classical 
version and commentary combined. It will come into 
more general use as the work extends more widely 
among the masses of the uneducated people, and will 
indirectly lead to a more simple style in the classical 
version that will be of immense advantage to all con- 
cerned. The two should be used side by side. In every 
church and preaching hall there should be these two 
versions, — the one to meet the wants of the scholar, who 
scorns the colloquial as beneath his notice, the other to 
supply in lucid style to the humble inquirer the knowl- 
edge he seeks. The creation of a Christian literature is 
the work of time ; and many of the crude productions of 
an earlier period, the best that could be done under the 
circumstances, are giving place to more thorough and 
systematic treatises. Hitherto the work has devolved 
chiefly on the missionaries, assisted by their personal 



232 The Cross and the Dragon. 

teachers; but the talent of the native church is being 
developed, and under the stimulus of literary contests, 
in vi'hich prizes are awarded to the best efforts, essays 
in good style on important topics are produced. Besides 
this work in the purely religious department, numerous 
volumes on medicine and the higher branches of science 
have been prepared, and meet with general favor among 
inquiring minds. 

The field of literary work as related to missions is one 
of great interest and attraction. Before the student 
stretches the vast ranges of Chinese literature, classical, 
historical, philosophical, poetical, political, religious, and 
fictional, as yet almost untouched. Its vast domain, rich 
with the pecuHar lore of centuries, uninfluenced by con- 
tact with the rest of the world, invites to fields both new 
and strange; while before him lies the grand work of 
giving to this ancient, isolated, but mentally active 
people, the ripe fruits of Christian science, — not merely 
the electric light of modern discovery, but the pure 
radiance of religious, moral, and social truth as set forth 
in the religion of Jesus. 



Preaching by Missionaries. 233 



CHAPTER XII. 

PREACHING BY MISSIONARIES. 

"NT O department of the work takes precedence of 
-^ ^ preaching by the Hving voice. It is the means 
ordained of old, and forms the leading characteristic of 
all evangelistic work. It does not preclude the use 
of other means, but can never be thrust into the back- 
ground. Preaching in Canton varies with the audience 
to be addressed, and we first direct our attention to the 
formal services in the Christian congregations. Gath- 
ered mostly from heathenism, and many of them 
ignorant of book-learning, they need the simplest kind 
of instruction. Deprived of Christian training in child- 
hood and youth, they often come with minds warped 
and biassed, ignorant of the simplest facts of Bible his- 
tory, and need to be continually drilled in that pri- 
mary knowledge which we always take for granted in 
Christian lands. When circumstances permit, inquiry 
into their history or condition may supply important 
facts that can be used with great force in applying the 
lessons taught. The congregations, however, are not 
made up entirely of such people. The pupils from the 
schools, the families of the native assistants, and many, 
who by constant attendance have gained a good general 
knowledge, require instruction in a more advanced form. 



2 34 '^he Cross and the Dragon. 

The narrative style is frequently used. The stories of 
the Old Testament, the miracles of our Lord, or the 
historical portions of the Acts developed in a lucid 
manner, command attention, and open the way for the 
application of fundamental truth, which they connect 
with the living actors in the scenes portrayed. Pictorial 
preaching is very effective. Familiar illustrations, aptly 
setting forth the truth to be impressed, are readily com- 
prehended. The use of illustration is an art that must 
be cultivated in preaching to the Chinese. Their range 
of experience and modes of thought being different, 
the illustrations used must be such as they can compre- 
hend. For this purpose it is necessary to study their 
manners and customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, that 
incidents and metaphors may come spontaneously to aid 
in impressing the truth. The living word has power 
continually, and when clearly explained and aptly ap- 
plied, fails not to touch the conscience and instruct the 
heart. The general intelligence of the native Christians 
is sometimes underrated. There are in Canton to-day 
churches where the best efforts of our leading preachers 
literally reproduced would be well understood and appre- 
ciated. The various grades of intelligence represented, 
however, make it difficult to benefit all equally, and 
require careful preparation on every occasion. They 
are often keen critics, and readily perceive the difference 
between diffuse and prosy discussions and terse, clear- 
cut, animated presentations of the truth. A preacher, 
to be successful, must be earnest and practical; he must 
acquire a varied and expressive vocabulary, and invite 
judicious criticism to avoid undignifiecj expressions and 



Preaching by Missionaries. 235 

faults of manner and pronunciation ; he must learn to 
think and compose readily in Chinese. Some go through 
the slavish process of thinking in English and mentally- 
translating. This gives them an involved and hesitating 
manner that works seriously against their effectiveness. 
Others speak with an English idiom which renders their 
sentences awkward and involves tedious circumlocution ; 
while still others, mistaking coarseness for simplicity, 
acquire objectionable phrases^ which strike harshly upon 
the audience and mar the good effect of their discourses. 
Constant, painstaking study will provide a man with 
a good vocabulary, and careful attention to tones and 
idiom will give a freedom and accuracy that will make 
him an effective speaker. The fluency and power which 
English and American missionaries have acquired in 
preaching to the Cantonese, attest the fact that a man 
with natural gifts may become as eloquent and persuasive 
in the use of Chinese as of his own mother-tongue ; and 
examples might be given of some who far surpass in 
Chinese their English performances. 

The instruction of the native church is not only a 
privilege that should be highly esteemed, but a work of 
the deepest importance. To establish them in funda- 
mental truth, to build them up in knowledge and faith, 
to give them symmetrical views of their duties and rela- 
tions in life, to arouse an aggressive spirit and move 
them to active work for others, form a task to which the 
preacher must bend all his energies. To aid in the 
accomplishment of this, he must bring all his natural 
talent and the wisdom gleaned from his own and the 
experiences of others. By Bible-classes and by private 



236 The Cross and the Dragon. 

lessons, by Sunday-schools and special services, by em- 
ploying those more advanced to teach the beginners, by 
closely observing their methods and guarding them from 
error, by suggesting special lines of study and urging 
active efforts continually, the latent powers may be de- 
veloped, and active, self-reliant churches be raised up. 

The second great department of the preacher's work 
is proclaiming the Gospel to the heathen, which usually 
forms the burden of his labor for six days out of seven. 
To become a successful preacher to the heathen requires 
peculiar talents and special powers of adaptation. No 
stereotyped form can be prescribed ; no prearranged 
plans can be depended upon. Circumstances, as a rule, 
determine the course in each particular instance, and 
great tact and versatility are required to improve to the 
utmost each occasion. In Canton this preaching is done 
in the chapels referred to. Open every day, the people 
come and go incessantly, never the same audience from 
one day to another. Streams of impressionable humanity 
pass continuously under the range of the preacher's voice. 
How to arouse them, to interest them, to persuade them, 
are the great questions. The Bible is the foundation of 
every discourse, it is true, but it is an unknown book to 
them ; its source, its history, its claims, its demands, its 
doctrines, are alike unknown to them. The preacher 
appears not as one clothed with authority and speaking 
the oracles of divine wisdom : he is a stranger or a bar- 
barian to them. He speaks with fluency, it is true ; but 
so do their professional story-tellers and their preachers 
of the sacred edicts. How to begin, circumstances must 
determine. Sometimes in a conversational manner he 



Preaching by Missionaries, 237 

inquires the name, age, and occupation of some one 
near him, and thus leads up to a general discussion. 
Again, holding up the Bible, he declares it to be the 
fountain of truth coming from God, and asks them to 
listen to its teachings ; or, proclaiming himself a preacher 
of Jesus, a name now widely known, he proceeds to give 
a succinct account of His work. The simple, dogmatic 
statement of doctrine is seldom effectual ; they receive 
it without dissent, but regard it simply as his creed, with 
which they have no concern. Some common ground 
must be sought; some accepted doctrine of their own 
must be brought forward, and accepted, modified, or 
denied. Their doctrine of filial piety may be intro- 
duced, its errors pointed out, and the Christian precept 
developed. Some teaching of their sages is quoted, 
and their attention arrested ; or some incident of the day 
is seized and made the text of a practical discourse. 
For instance : in the city of Shiu-kwan a man resorted 
to a much-frequented shrine in the suburbs and pro- 
ceeded to worship. Placing his incense and gilt paper 
on the altar, he arranged a semicircle of candles on the 
ground behind him, and within this magic line prostrated 
himself before the idols. Clad in long robes, the skirt of 
his tunic, coming in contact with the candles, was soon 
ablaze, and before help could reach him, he was burned 
to death. The occasion was immediately improved by 
the missioiiary, and a thrilling appeal addressed to his 
audience founded on the passage, "The heathen shall 
perish in the presence of his gods." 

Near the same city is a celebrated monastery, Nam- 
wa-tsz^ in which the rnumniied body of Luk-tso, the 



238 The Cross and the Dragon, 

sixth and last patriarch of the Buddhist church in China, 
is enshrined. In times of drought he is carried in pro- 
cession twenty miles to the city, and prayers made to 
him for rain. On one occasion their petitions were 
unavailing; no rain came; and a second procession was 
formed, and special efforts made to propitiate the powers 
above, but all to no purpose. The people became scep- 
tical; and the priests, fearing for the reputation of their 
deity, issued a manifesto stating that Luk-tso was sub- 
ject to Sheung-ti, the Supreme Ruler, and could send 
rain only by his permission. This being the name for 
God used by the missionaries there, copies of the proc- 
lamation were obtained, and the whole occurrence used 
as a powerful argument to prove the inferiority of their 
deities, and to urge the people to worship the Most 
High, whom their priests had declared to be supreme. 

Familiarity with their Classics and the ability to quote 
freely from their Sacred Books is of great advantage. 
Their respect for these books is such that any apt quo- 
tation strikes them favorably, and gives the preacher a 
standing at once as one who has studied their books. 
Many passages from the Classics are in constant use in 
the form of proverbs, and are often brought forward to 
cap the climax in an argument, to settle a dispute, or 
emphasize some important statement; and the judi- 
cious use of one such quotation will often have more 
force than any amount of logic. One's position as a 
scholar, in their eyes, being established, every other 
statement will be received with favor. Proverbial say- 
ings abound, some of them most terse and pithy; and 
it sometimes happens that a native, who has followed a 



Preaching by Missionaries. 239 



labored argument and perceived its force, though the 
audience were all at sea as to the drift of the discourse, 
has cleared up the whole subject and drawn exclama- 
tions of intelligent assent from many by the timely 
utterance of some simple, hackneyed proverb. The 
direct inculcation of saving truth is the one aim of the 
preacher ; and though it may be possible to interest an 
audience for hours, yet, if he fails to present to them 
some central truth of salvation, he has failed in all. He 
repudiates the name of a mere narrator of tales, by 
which he is sometimes called, and disowns the character 
of a teacher of Confucian morality, which many well- 
disposed but ignorant people ascribe to him, rejoicing 
in the title of Preacher of Jesus ; yet, if he fails to pre- 
sent the way of salvation through Christ, he differs but 
little from the characters disowned. 

When the time is limited, and the audience constantly 
changing, the most effective method is often the simple 
statement of the way of life, insisting on its practical 
bearings upon each, and urging them, with all the ear- 
nestness and power at command, to examine the doctrine 
and prove its truth. 

All preaching must possess the prime characteristic 
of singleness of aim ; and every incident or illustration, 
every reference to Chinese customs or literature, every 
thrust at popular superstitions, must tend in a clear, 
pertinent manner to that one point. Some adopt the 
method of writing the text in large letters on the black- 
board, sometimes placing a passage from the Classics 
opposite for the purpose of comparison and contrast. 
This has its advantages : it brings the special subject 



240 The Cross and the Dragon. 

directly before the minds of scholars especially, and en- 
ables them to carry away in exact form the passage 
explained. Frequent repetition is inevitable from the 
nature of the audiences, but usually with some shade of 
difference, while rapidity of thought and readiness at 
retort are in constant demand. The preacher is always 
liable to interruptions from those who wish to ask ques- 
tions or bring on discussion. Unless in special cases, all 
are requested to wait until the discourse is ended, and 
then full opportunity is given. These interruptions 
come from two classes : those who are struck by some 
statement and wish for more light, or who have long 
been thinking over some point and take the first oppor- 
tunity to bring it forward. To such it is a pleasure to 
give all the satisfaction possible, and the statement of 
their difficulties is often the entering wedge for a direct 
appeal to all present. There is another class, however, 
captious cavillers, often shallow, dogmatic fellows, who 
haunt the chapels and bring forward, in a sneering or 
boastful way, what they consider unanswerable objec- 
tions. A few preliminary questions soon show whether 
they understand what they are talking about, and 
whether they are sincere in their inquiries or only come 
to make trouble; and the preacher's course is shaped 
accordingly. It is often easy to expose their ignorance 
and involve them in contradictions ; and the people, 
always alive to the ludicrous side of things, heartily 
enjoy their discomfiture. Having gained the good-will 
of the audience in answering some sneering objector, 
the way is often open to impress with peculiar force 
some deep and practical truth. 



Preaching by Missionaries, 241 

At the time of the literary examinations, and espe- 
cially on the occasion of the great triennial contest, the 
city is filled with students to the number of tens of 
thousands. Special efforts are made to reach them, 
and as they attend the preaching-halls the most strenu- 
ous exertions are made to interest and, if possible, lead 
them to a study of the truth. Drawn chiefly by curi- 
osity, they come in large numbers, often express high 
appreciation of the discourses heard, and obtain sup- 
plies of books for closer study of the doctrines. By 
this incessant proclamation of the truth, the Gospel has 
been widely published, not only in the city, but to 
thousands from other parts of the land. The chapels 
are known for many miles around ; and the missionaries, 
as they pass through the streets, are hailed as the 
" Preachers of Jesus," and the name of the particular 
chapel to which each belongs is given. Personal pe- 
culiarities are often noticed, and nick-names given to 
the preachers, such as " Great-eyes," " Smooth-head," 
" Goat's-beard," etc. ; and as they pass to and fro, the 
individuals so characterized may hear their style and 
use of Chinese freely criticised by the public, some- 
times in a manner quite flattering to their self-esteem. 

A peculiar proof of the great influence of this chapel 
preaching is seen in the many preaching-halls estab- 
lished by the Chinese to counteract them. Near each 
Christian chapel may be found a room, fitted up in 
much the same style, where men employed by the gen- 
try or literary associations discourse upon Confucian 
morality, taking up in succession the themes of the 
" Sacred Commands," written by the Emperor Kang-hi. 

16 



242 The Cross and the Dragon, 

In these sixteen apothegms, condensed into sentences 
of seven words each, are set forth the ^orinciples of so- 
cial and political morality. Kang-hi commanded them 
to be read in the public halls on the first and fifteenth 
of each month ; but this custom had fallen into general 
disuse in Canton, until the preaching of the missionaries 
led to its revival. Each subject is illustrated by a num- 
ber of tales, more or less pertinent, which the speaker 
usually reads and explains in an indifferent manner 
without any of the fire and zeal that inspire the 
Christian preacher. 

The desire ever uppermost is to bring the Gospel to 
as many people as possible ; and to attain this end, 
long tours of itineration are made through the interior. 
The points aimed at, in the first place, are the nriission 
out-stations, where the schools, chapels, and companies 
of Christians form centres from which to reach the 
country adjacent. At each of these points, the infant 
churches gathered demand the first attention. To- 
gether with candidates for baptism and inquirers in the 
search for truth, they are formed into classes for Bible 
study, and, assembled for services in preparation for the 
sacraments, are given special instruction. The news of 
the missionary's arrival spreads rapidly, and the little 
rooms for worship will often be daily crowded by peo- 
ple who wish to see and hear him. Throughout the 
country, he is an object of the greatest curiosity, and is 
everywhere followed by throngs of people. Among 
them will be found gamblers, idlers, opium-smokers, 
and other ruffians, who ** neither fear God, nor regard 
man," and are the source of constant trouble and annoy- 



Preaching by Missionaries. 243 



ance. Destitute of all respect, they push their way and 
rudely accost the missionary, often using the most in- 
sulting language and uttering the vilest slanders against 
Christians and their doctrines. They are the scourge 
of every town and village ; and at their instigation, the 
boys, always ready for a frolic, join in a jeering chorus, 
in which they declare, in rhyming couplets, every form 
of punishment, from drowning to decapitation, to await 
the '* foreign devil." Patiently waiting till they have 
exhausted their fund of rude jest, or seizing a favorable 
opportunity to administer wholesome chastisement to 
some of the ringleaders, the missionary pursues his way. 
To every inquiry as to the object of his visit, he exhibits 
his books and proclaims his mission. ''What do the books 
teach ? " they ask. " The doctrines of Jesus," " Will you 
explain these doctrines to us, as we do not understand 
them? " " With the greatest pleasure, if you will find a 
suitable place in which to speak." Immediately they 
lead the way to the town hall, or to a temple, or to an 
open space under the village banyans, great trees that 
spread their giant arms over nearly half an acre, and 
roof the space with thick foliage. A table is brought 
out and a platform erected ; and when all is in readiness, 
the request is repeated somewhat in the form of a com- 
mand, " Now preach to us." Mounting this temporary 
stage, the preacher appeals to the elders and scholars 
to restrain the rabble and secure attention from the 
people, and receiving their assurance of help, proceeds 
to unfold the message he brings in the simplest and 
most attractive manner he can command. Appealing 
to their intuitive beliefs and their practical experience, 



244 ^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

he draws forth many tokens of assent ; and leading them 
up from the low level of their daily life, from the dreary 
uncertainty and sordid practices of idol worship, appeal- 
ing to the longings they feel, and the burdens of sorrow 
and hardship that press upon them, he points them to 
the Healer of all woes, their Saviour. Oftentimes a 
hushed silence falls upon them, the noisy prattle of the 
children will be hushed, the women will gather in groups 
on the outskirts of the throng; while, inspired by the 
Spirit of Him who spake as never man spake, the 
preacher, yearning for the salvation of these people, 
who but now hooted at and insulted him, holds that 
heathen audience spell-bound as he unfolds to them the 
unsearchable riches of Christ. No sound is heard but 
the rustle of the leaves on the boughs above him, or the 
subdued tone of some old woman as she repeats his 
words to one less intelligent at her side ; and as the final 
appeal, given with all the power and earnestness which 
a knowledge of their hopeless state can infuse, closes 
the discourse, nods of assent and remarks addressed to 
each other, such as, "Good doctrine," ''Words from 
Heaven," " I wish to hear more of it," indicate the im- 
pression made. Such experiences are not usual, but 
are sometimes given to cheer the earnest heart. In a 
distant market town, after a long and toilsome day, in 
which more than a thousand books were sold, and sev- 
eral addresses made, a man came and asked me to his 
house. He had bought a New Testament, and, gather- 
ing his farm hands in, asked for special instruction. 
When delivering the first sermon ever preached in 
Chik-Hom, an old man came up to the temple door 



Preaching by Missionaries. 245 

where I was standing, and displayed the greatest joy in 
seeing me there. He took the Gospel of Matthew when 
I had finished, and harangued the people in their own 
peculiar patois with great vigor. Inquiring his name, I 
found him to be a Christian returned from Australia; 
and he is now the leading man in the church in that 
town. Oftentimes the people throng the boat in their 
eagerness to see and hear, until sheer physical exhaus- 
tion compels us to close the doors. After a busy day 
in the large city of Lung-kong, a messenger with a 
boat appeared with an invitation to visit the house of 
the Lees, the leading family in the place. Such an in- 
vitation was not to be slighted ; so, in spite of fatigue, I 
accompanied the man, and was politely received. The 
opportunity was improved by communicating as much 
Christian knowledge as possible, the immediate result 
being profuse thanks and subscriptions for a religious 
newspaper. In the mean time a boat-load of ladies had 
gone to the barge to visit the missionary ladies there, 
taking with them, as a propitiatory offering, a dish of 
fried silk-worm grubs, which were presented as a great 
delicacy, the ladies laughing at the reluctance shown in 
accepting them, and eating handfuls of them with great 
relish to show how good they were. They left them on 
their departure, assuring the ladies that they would 
soon overcome their aversion and find them delicious. 
They were given to the barge-men, who fully appre- 
ciated their good fortune. 

As we go to these remote towns, where no living 
voice of Christian teacher has ever been heard, an inde- 
scribable feeling of pleasure and responsibility is felt 



246 The Cross and the Dragon. 

in speaking the words of life to those who hear them 
for the first time. Sometimes the place selected is a 
temple with a broad court in front, and standing on the 
projecting ledge of the granite door-way, a vast con- 
course of people may be reached; or, invited to occupy 
the space inside, a position is taken in front of the idols. 
The smoked, begrimed images and the debris of pagan 
worship suggest a subject. It is a significant fact that 
abuse of the idols seldom calls forth much resentment; 
and often, after exposing the folly of such worship, and 
showing that the images are merely blocks of wood 
or clay, the response will come, "True; they are of no 
use." There is a lurking unbelief which responds to 
every appeal to abandon such folly. Great care, how- 
ever, is necessary in dealing with ancestral worship and 
the authority of the sages. Many an hour has been 
spent in a heathen temple expounding the word of God, 
the only complaint of such use of the place coming 
from the fortune-tellers or sorcerers, who, seeking a 
sheltered place, find the crowds that come to listen to 
the preaching encroaching upon their space. These 
shrewd deceivers, who trade upon human credulity, 
sometime cross weapons with the preacher, who meets 
them with sarcasm and ridicule such as their system of 
deception requires ; under the fire of which, they usually 
retire in confusion, amidst the laughter and derision of 
the company. In towns where tens of thousands of 
people gather to attend the market, services will be held 
four or five times at different points, and in some cases, 
missionaries have preached seven times in one day to 
different audiences. 



Preaching by Missionaries. 247 

On evangelistic tours a supply of books and tracts is 
always taken, and proves of advantage in many ways. 
The man who travels empty-handed is an object of sus- 
picion to the people. He is thought to be a spy, a 
political agent, it may be, of some hostile government, 
come to inspect the location of the cities, or he is 
searching out the luck of the land. The absurd belief 
prevails that foreigners, especially those with blue or 
gray eyes, can see as far into the solid earth as Chinese 
can into clear water. They firmly believe the hills to 
be stored with precious metals, the property of the 
Dragon ; and hold that the presence of these treasures 
brings good fortune to the surrounding country. In 
every journey into the country, and every expedition to 
the hills, the foreigner, with his superhuman powers of 
sight, is supposed to be prying into the rocks and ra- 
vines, in search of these precious objects. These foolish 
superstitions are often the source of amusement, but 
more frequently of annoyance and sometimes of danger. 
A man with a taste for geology would soon excite a 
mob against him, if he persisted in chipping off bits of 
rock as specimens for his collection. Many places are 
now shown where foreigners have stolen the luck of the 
land. Near Lien-chow, on a prominent hill, is seen a 
pagoda ; at its base a few years ago stood a fine cypress- 
tree. A company of Americans ascended the hill to 
view the country, and carried away a {qsn sprigs of 
cypress. A few months later the tree died ; and the 
people believe we caused its death. Near the same city 
a man with botanical tastes was accustomed, in leisure 
moments, to roam the hills in search of rare plants ; and 



248 The Cross and the Dragon. 

the people say he found a beautiful white stone of 
untold value, which he carried off with him. Another, 
whose walks were frequently taken in one direction, was 
accused of penetrating the depths of a hill and extract- 
ing a hidden gem in the shape of a golden pig. Points 
along the river are shown, where stones that rose with 
the rising water were carried off; and one beautiful 
specimen of variegated marble is shown with great 
pride. It forms a step in a causeway over a stream, 
and some foreigner, not a missionary, attracted by its 
beauty, wished to appropriate it for a garden seat ; but 
the whole village turned out in force and demanded its 
restoration. I have been taken aside in a mysterious 
manner by old men, and asked to point out the location 
of buried treasure, and requested to enter caves where 
spirits were supposed to guard deposits of gold or silver, 
who would wreak vengeance on Chinese intruders, but 
would not dare to harm a *' foreign devil." Botanical 
researches are not often obstructed ; the people being 
great herbalists suppose the plants collected are for 
medicine. We cannot walk along the river bank, or 
ascend a mountain, or explore a cave, without a throng 
of people following to keep watch over our movements ; 
and it often requires great tact and judgment to allay 
their suspicions. A bag of books indicates some defi- 
nite employment, and, aside from the good done in their 
distribution, disarms suspicion in a great measure. The 
wide dissemination of Christian literature has ever been 
a marked characteristic of Protestant Christian effort. 
In the early days books were bestowed gratuitously, 
but in recent years are mostly sold. The reasons for 



Preaching by Missionaries. 249 

this change are many and obvious. It was found that 
in gratuitious distribution most of the books fell into 
unworthy hands, while those who could appreciate them, 
failed to obtain them. It was customary, after preaching 
in a town, to distribute in printed form the substance 
of the doctrines proclaimed; and in many cases the rush 
and scramble for the books would cause such utter con- 
fusion that some have been known in despair to toss 
the books into the air, to be caught by those who could 
reach them, much as you would throw a handful of 
pennies among a crowd of beggars. The books thus 
obtained would be sold for waste paper and used for 
wrapping parcels, in a way that the least esteemed of 
their own writings would not be used. The object being 
not simply to get rid of the books, but to secure their 
perusal by the people, the plan of selling them at a 
nominal price has been adopted ; and tens of thousands 
every year are thus disposed of. It is not the most 
pleasing occupation that a minister of the gospel could 
choose, to travel through the country with a bag of 
books over his shoulder ; nor is it always soothing to 
his feelings of dignity and pride to spend from four to 
six hours a day in squeezing through the unsavory 
crowds of the market towns, offering tracts to people at 
half a cent each, and be compelled to submit to all the 
annoyance and insult which such work entails. But 
the disciple is not above his Lord ; and such experiences, 
though often humiliating, are a part of the price, and 
are cheerfully endured for the sake of Christ and the 
myriads for whom He died. The books, as a rule, are 
received with respect, their reverence, which regards 



250 The Cross and the Dragon. 

all printed matter as sacred, securing this. I have 
seen a man, in a spirit of bravado, buy a book and calmly 
burn it before the crowd ; but this action was turned to 
account in showing that its contents were indestructible, 
and would live unharmed by the fire he had kindled, or 
the fiercer flames of passion and bigotry. By means of 
these books the truth has been carried to thousands 
whom the living voice could never have reached ; and 
many instances of conversion through this agency have 
come to cheer us. Many of the books we carry have 
received the divine seal as the means of leading men 
to the Saviour; and every time they are given forth, the 
thought of what they have done for others comes up as 
the pledge of blessing to those then receiving them. 
Many are purchased by ignorant peasants, who carry 
them to the village school-teacher in some distant 
mountain hamlet, and he in turn will read them to the 
whole village assembled. Penetrating to unfrequented 
towns the missionary is often treated with great indig- 
nity. His colored glasses, worn to protect the eyes from 
a fierce tropical sun, arouse suspicion ; and as he stands 
on an embankment, discoursing to the people who never 
heard the glad tidings before, a youth, spurred on by 
his companions, snatches the glasses from his eyes, and, 
eluding swift pursuit, escapes, involving the preacher in 
much discomfort for the remainder of his journey. 
Petty thefts are often perpetrated ; handkerchief, gloves, 
and umbrella, which the glare of the sun renders in- 
dispensable, being taken. On a bright August day a 
missionary was sitting on a stone altar discoursing to 
a large company, his white umbrella carefully placed 



Preaching by Missionaries. 251 

under him. It awakened the cupidity of some men, 
who quickly concocted a plan to obtain it. Pushing up 
through the throng, one of them called for a book, hold- 
ing out the money, but at such a distance that the mis- 
sionary was compelled to rise to receive it. When he 
sat down the umbrella was gone, and all efforts to re- 
cover it proved unavailing ; a walk of several miles under 
a blazing August sun, unprotected, being the immediate 
result. Crossing a ridge of hills on the remote borders 
of the province, a missionary came upon a stream never 
before traversed by a white man. Travelling alone, he 
took passage on the barge that was starting for a city 
lower down. Some ill-disposed people worked on the 
superstitious fears of the passengers until they made the 
demand for the boatmen to put him off. Scarcely more 
fortunate than Jonah, he was unceremoniously deposited 
on the bank, with his baggage beside him, in an un- 
' known region, in the midst of a pouring rain. Whilst 
seeking for shelter, he was recognized by a man who 
had heard him preach near Canton, and invited to his 
boat The fact of his presence becoming known, the 
bank was lined with curious crowds, and the thrifty 
boatman was driving a brisk trade, by charging a small 
fee for a sight of the " red-haired devil," until his re- 
ceipts were suddenly cut short by the command to 
push off. 

To the lover of natural scenery in its grander aspects, 
these journeys through the interior possess many at- 
tractions. Leading to the mountainous districts of the 
borders, they introduce him to regions of wondrous 
beauty. Rivers winding through most attractive scenes, 



252 The Cross and the Dragon. 

with narrow gorges and passes of strange and pictur- 
esque formation ; mountains of endless variety in shape 
and shade ; caves of unknown depth, sparkling with in- 
finite forms of beauty ; and waterfalls where streams leap 
hundreds of feet, afford continuous delight. The scenery 
on the northern border of the province is worthy of a 
place beside the more celebrated mountain groups of 
other lands. The dividing ridge is pierced by passes, 
indented by deep ravines, throwing out spurs and 
groups in endless diversity of formation, some of them 
extending long distances to the south. In the study 
and exploration of these is found relief from the worry, 
the annoyance, and the severe moral and physical strain 
of work among the towns. 

The results of this wide-spread preaching through the 
interior towns and villages are becoming every year 
more apparent, in the general extension of knowledge, 
and the openings that come for permanent stations. 



Educational Work, 253 



CHAPTER XIII. 

EDUCATIONAL WORK. 

THE Chinese, with their inborn respect for learning, 
appreciate, in a measure, the good effect of the 
schools opened. A literary people themselves, they 
have many schools, but nothing like a general system of 
education in which all may be benefited ; so that a large 
number remain in ignorance, unless free schools afford 
them the advantages of education. In this way, a wide 
field is opened in the line of teaching, in which the en- 
ergies of many missionaries and a large staff of native 
teachers are engaged. Schools of several grades are in 
successful operation. 

There are, in the first place, the primary schools, 
which are mostly for day-pupils, a small fee being re- 
quired for admission. This class is again divided into 
those for boys and those for girls, the two being always 
kept distinct, as it would violate the first principles of 
propriety for boys and girls to attend the same school. 
The type of boys' school current among the Chinese is 
of a fixed character ; all are on the same model, and the 
same course of study prescribed for each. The pupils 
begin at the age of five or six, and are set to learn the 
"Trimctrical Classic," composed in a style far above their 
comprehension. It begins with the nature of man, and 



254 The Cross and the Dragon. 

the necessity and different modes of education. The 
first sentence contains the remarkable statement, Yan- 
che ch'oh, sing pun slwi, ** Men at their birth are by- 
nature radically good; " and goes on to say, "Though 
alike in this, in practice they widely diverge ; " and, " If 
not educated, the natural character grows worse." The 
next book put into a boy's hand is the book of the 
" Hundred Surnames; " and the third is the " Millenary 
Classic," which stands unique among all books, in that 
it consists of just one thousand characters, no two of 
which are alike in form or meaning. Its author lived in 
the middle of the sixth century; and the story of its 
composition is that it was prepared by command of the 
Emperor in a single night, under fear of condign punish- 
ment; and that the mental exertion of composing an 
ode of a thousand characters, not one of which could 
be repeated, was such as to turn the writer's hair white. 
The opening lines are, — 

" The heavens are sombre ; the earth is yellow ; 
The whole universe was one wide waste." 

The " Canon of Filial Piety " is then studied, a book 
attributed to Confucius. The first section treats of the 
origin and nature of filial duty, and closes with a quota- 
tion from the '' Book of Odes," — 

" Ever think of your ancestors, 
Reproducing their virtues." 

The teachings of this book are enforced by many 
examples, of which twenty-four have been collected 
and widely. disseminated, of which the following are 
specimens : — 



Educational Work, 255 

" Ng-Mang, a lad eight years of age, who Hved under the Tsin 
dynasty, was very dutiful to his parents. They were so poor 
that they could not afford to furnish their bed with mosquito- 
curtains. Every summer's night he would draw the myriads of 
mosquitoes to himself; and although there were so many, he 
would not drive them away lest they should go to his parents 
and annoy them. Such was his affection. . . . 

" In the Chow dynasty, there flourished the venerable Lai, 
who was very obedient and reverential toward his parents, mani- 
festing his dutifulness by exerting himself to provide them with 
every delicacy. Although upwards of seventy years of age, he 
declared that he was not yet old, and usually dressed himself 
in party-colored, embroidered garments, and like a child would 
playfully stand by the side of his parents. He would also take 
up buckets of water and try to carry them into the house ; but 
feigning to slip, would fall to the ground, wailing and crying 
like a child. All these things he did in order to divert his 
parents." 

In imitation of the Chinese, and to command their 
favor as far as possible, primary books for Christian 
schools have been prepared on a similar plan, but in a 
style easily understood, some being in the colloquial 
dialect, and every sentence brought within the grasp of 
the child's intellect. Utilizing whatever is purely Chi- 
nese, as far as it is available, the same methods of study 
are continued. The pupils become familiar with their 
lessons by shouting them out at the tops of their voices. 
Their memories are cultivated and used to store up 
mines of Christian truth; but care is taken to avoid as 
far as possible the evil of using the memory to the ex- 
clusion or detriment of other faculties. Other branches 
are taught, and special pains taken to exercise the reason, 
and teach them to think for themselves. Among the 



256 The Cross and the Dragon. 

three thousand pupils in these schools are scores of 
unusually bright boys and girls, whose perfect recita- 
tions and ready answers show the solid progress they 
have made. These schools, taught by Chinese teachers, 
are visited once or twice a week by the missionaries in 
charge, and the pupils examined on the studies pursued. 
One by one they come to the desk, make a graceful bow, 
and turning their backs on the teacher, who holds the 
book, repeat with glibness the long lines of characters 
which appear like meaningless hieroglyphics to the un- 
initiated. This is called pui-sku, " backing the books," 
that is, turning their backs to recite. They are then 
examined as to their understanding of the lessons so 
perfectly repeated. Then copy-books are inspected, and 
their writing criticised. The study of the Bible occupies 
a portion of each day, and easy catechisms on Old and 
New Testaments fasten the main points of history and 
doctrine in their minds. A little history, geography, 
and arithmetic is given, and lessons in singing, of which 
they are very fond. 

The schools for girls are on the same general plan as 
those for boys. Female education is not a thing unknown 
in China. In the first century of our era, the " Great 
Lady Tsao " was made preceptress to the Empress, and 
wrote the first work on female education ever published 
in any language. It was called " Nii-kai," or ** Female 
Precepts," and has formed the base of many succeeding 
books on the same subject. The names of authoresses 
mentioned in Chinese annals would make a long list. 
In Canton are found native schools of a high grade 
where girls are taught, and private tutors are often 



Educatio7ial Work. 257 

employed to give instruction to young ladies in their 
homes ; so that girls' schools are not an entirely new 
idea in this part of the Empire. Great prejudice was 
encountered in the beginning, and a general unwilling- 
ness manifested to intrust their daughters to the care of 
foreign ladies, but these have been overcome to such an 
extent that schools in larger numbers than could be effi- 
ciently superintended might be opened. Each school 
is a fountain of great good to the neighborhood. A few 
may be heard who decry the education of girls, and 
depict all sorts of evils to husbands, parents, and broth- 
ers that will surely follow ; but the immediate relatives 
seem proud of the attainments made, and express their 
gratitude profusely. On the occasion of each visit of the 
lady in charge, after the school-exercises are finished, 
a general meeting for women is held, men being rigidly 
excluded, which is attended by the relatives and friends 
of the pupils, often in such numbers as to fill the room 
to overflowing. 

By means of these schools the Gospel is penetrating 
the homes of the people, and thousands of young 
people growing up, not only with a good knowledge 
of Christianity, but with an intellectual belief in its 
truth, and in many cases a sincere acceptance of it as 
their own. As far as possible the pupils attend church 
on Sabbath, and every year some scores of girls and 
women, the fruit of this work, make public profession 
of Christ. The schools are graded, and rewards of 
merit bestowed at the close of each session, under 
the stimulus of which, increased diligence is secured. 
Thorough examinations are held at the close of the 

17 



258 The Cross and the Dragon. 

year, and the results published. Actual teaching to any 
great extent in so many schools by the missionaries is 
out of the question ; and the routine work in these thirty- 
five schools for girls and fifty-five for boys is assigned 
to Chinese teachers, whose stipend is frequently made to 
depend upon the number and proficiency of the pupils. 
Steeped in the intense conservatism of their nation and 
wedded to stereotyped forms, it is often difficult to 
awaken a spirit of progress among these teachers, yet 
some are found who enter with enthusiasm into the plans 
of the missionary and readily adopt advanced ideas. 

The question as to the wisdom of opening boarding- 
schools for boys — where their whole support is fur- 
nished gratuitously by the Mission — is, in Canton, 
usually answered in the negative. There are, however, 
several schools of an intermediate grade connected 
with the Presbyterian and German Missions, where 
boys are received as boarders on the payment of a 
small fee. These schools, in the same compound 
with the missionary's house, are under his daily super- 
vision. The pupils are selected with care, chiefly from 
Christian families, and receiving more thorough and 
systematic training than it is possible to give in the 
day-schools, are proving these schools to be efficient 
adjuncts to the more advanced departments. 

The most important school in Canton, at present, 
is the Female Seminary of the Presbyterian Mission. 
Under the successful management of Miss H. Noyes, 
this school has reached a high degree of efficiency. 
Superior talents and great executive ability, persever- 
ance, zeal, and wonderful tact, combined with perfect 



Educational Work. 259 

unselfishness and a grand scope for her varied gifts, 
make this noble lady one of the great educators of 
the time. Founded thirteen years ago, the school has 
repeatedly outgrown its accommodations, and is now 
provided with a fine three-storied building, planned 
and superintended in its construction by the lady in 
charge. For convenience, comfort, and space, it is all 
that could be desired, and will furnish good accommo- 
dation for over one hundred pupils. Beginning as a 
boarding-school for girls, two departments have been 
added, one for women, and the other for smaller girls 
in preparatory classes. These departments are all 
united under one roof. 

The fundamental idea is that the school should be an 
educational institution in the strict sense of the words ; 
and to attain this end, all side issues have been excluded, 
and all the strength available expended in giving the 
pupils as full and as thorough an education in the Chris- 
tian sense as possible. On the principle that we come 
to supply the Chinese with what they lack, no attempt 
has been made to teach sewing or embroidery. In 
these the Chinese excel ; and in their homes, or from 
their own people, they can acquire a better knowledge 
of such industries than could be given in the school. 
So too with cooking and all forms of manual labor. The 
Chinese are not a rude or unskilled people : they have 
carried many of the industrial arts to a higher perfection 
than most nations ; and Christian missionaries should not 
waste time in doing for them that which they can do 
as well, or better, for themselves. Habits of cleanliness 
are insisted upon, and each girl required to keep her 



26o The Cross and the Dragon. 

room in order and see that her wardrobe is in good 
condition. The order and neatness of everything about 
the school is a perpetual lesson to those who come 
from the slovenly, comfortless homes of the people. 

Four Chinese ladies are employed as teachers, all of 
them graduates of the school and eminently fitted for 
the work committed to them. The head-teacher, Mrs. 
Ng-shuk-un, is a young lady of unusual acquirements. 
Her accurate knowledge of the Bible is above that of 
most preachers in Christian lands, and the clearness and 
ease with which she expounds the Word is astonishing. 
Her accomplishments in a purely Chinese line are 
equally remarkable. In knowledge of classical and 
general literature, in penmanship and composition, 
she would take high rank among native scholars. 
Combined with these talents, she possesses a gentle, 
patient spirit, deep and earnest piety, and a heart that 
yearns for the conversion of her numerous family rela- 
tives, among whom she stands alone as a follower of 
Jesus. In the preparatory department is Mrs. Sun-look, 
the widow of one of the elders, and a deaconess in the 
church. Gentle and motherly, she wins the hearts of 
all the children, so that they cling about her and weep 
when the time comes for them to be transferred to the 
higher grade. The religious influence of the school 
is of the best. No undue pressure is brought to bear 
upon the pupils to lead them to a premature profession 
of the Christian faith ; but as a matter of fact a large 
proportion of them become Christians, not in name 
merely, but, as their faithful witness for Christ in the face 
of great persecution shows, in heart and in life. When 



Educational Work, 261 

the new school building was erected the girls requested 
that one room should be set apart as a place of prayer; 
and a small apartment, in the southeast corner of the 
third story, is the room now hallowed by many tender 
associations. The first prayer after the completion of 
the building was offered there, and the girls — alone, 
or in companies of several, as the Spirit moves them 
— betake themselves to this quiet corner to pray for 
themselves and those dear to them. Its window opens 
toward the New Jerusalem, and the holy incense of pure 
and loving hearts ascends continually. Since the found- 
ing of the school one hundred and ten have united with 
the church, many of whom are now found in important 
positions, as Bible-women and teachers, and as the wives 
of native preachers and prominent men in the church, 
where, as mothers of Christian families, they are training 
up their children to serve the Lord. 

The course of education pursued in this school is 
systematic and thorough. Besides the elementary 
branches taught, those who take the full course in 
the girls' department are taught arithmetic, geography, 
astronomy, chemistry, history, natural philosophy, nat- 
ural history, and natural theology. In addition to 
these, a full course in the ordinary Chinese studies is 
given, with writing and composition in classical Chi- 
nese. In the purely religious department, they study 
" Bible History," in five volumes, '* Peep of Day," ** Pil- 
grim's Progress," Dr. Plumer's " Rock of Our Salvation," 
translated, ^^ Christianity and Confucianism Compared," 
and several other good-sized books ; and to crown all 
this, they commit the whole New Testament to mepiory 



262 The Cross and the Dragon, 

so that they can repeat it from Matthew to Revelation 
without mistake or hesitation; and in the case of the 
last class that graduated, which consisted of six remark- 
ably bright girls, they added Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, 
Proverbs, and Isaiah, — all of which they could repeat 
from memory and give a very good general explanation 
of the whole. It is impossible to overestimate the 
good effect of such training. These stores of Scripture 
knowledge ever remain with them and exert a powerful 
influence over their lives. 

In the women's department the material to work 
upon is very different. They come at a more advanced 
age, some of them thirty, forty, fifty, and even sixty 
years of age ; and old ladies of seventy and more have 
been received. One of these, with silver hair, seventy- 
eight years of age, was the mother of a Methodist 
preacher, who was stationed at some point in the inte- 
rior where he could not teach his mother as she desired. 
He sent her to this school, where in a few months she 
gained so clear a knowledge of the truth, and gave such 
conclusive evidence of her sincere faith in Christ, that she 
was baptized, and a few months later passed upw^ard to 
her reward. Many of these women show good powers of 
acquisition, and after a course of three years become so 
familiar with the Bible that they are qualified to act as 
assistants to the ladies in the work among the women. 
The ranks of the Bible-women are constantly recruited 
from this department of the school, their special quali- 
fications being tested during vacations, when they are 
sent on missions to the country or to work in connec- 
tion with the day-schools. 



Educational Work. 263 

This school is a fountain of light to the women of 
Canton, and should be vigorously sustained that it may- 
become increasingly a power in the land. The wisdom 
of the superintendent is in nothing more evident than 
in the reception or rejection of applicants. No un- 
worthy person has ever effected an entrance, so that 
the school has the absolute confidence of all who are 
familiar with its working. The high estimation in which 
it is held by the community in general was shown in the 
large concourse of over three hundred people assem- 
bled at the dedication of the new building. These 
were not simply native Christian and foreign residents, 
although every mission and church was represented ; 
but many from the ward in which it is located and from 
the offices of the mandarins were there. Several of 
the magistrates attended in person ; others, the Viceroy 
among them, were represented by special deputies; and 
all expressed in terms of highest praise their apprecia- 
tion of the methods and objects of the school. 

The best means to raise up and educate a native min- 
istry has been a question of vital importance in the 
whole course of missionary effort. It is perfectly evi- 
dent to every one who has given the subject the least 
thought, that in such a field as Canton it is simply 
impossible for missionaries to be sent in numbers 
sufficient to reach the myriad population. The great 
aggressive work of the future must be done by natives 
of the country. Steps have already been taken in this 
direction, and the staff of native assistants now enlisted 
shows the progress that has been made. Hitherto 
various methods have been pursued to attain the one 



264 The Cross and the Dragon. 

great end which all are seeking. Three missions have 
training-schools and theological seminaries, where sys- 
tematic instruction is given. The one connected with 
the Presbyterian Mission has been in existence for 
many years, but only within a very recent period has 
it assumed a distinctively theological character. For 
years young men were received and taught without 
reference to their Christian character ; and the wild hope 
that by some hot-house process they could be devel- 
oped into preachers, failed of realization. The evils 
of the old regime being manifest, new regulations were 
adopted. The first requirement now is that only Chris- 
tian young men, introduced and vouched for by some 
member of the Mission, can be received ; and further, 
that those who look forward to evangelistic work shall 
be formed into a distinct class, admission to this class 
being granted only after satisfactory examination by 
the Mission as to their piety and general fitness. A 
course of three years is then prescribed, at the end 
of which period they may, after full examination, be 
employed as preachers. To guard more fully against 
unworthy men, a committee consisting of three of 
the most trusted of the older assistants is appointed 
to inquire into the moral character and conduct of 
the candidates ; and only after their favorable report 
are the applicants admitted. After being accepted a 
three-years course of further study is prescribed, and 
examinations appointed at the end of each year, their 
promotion and increase of salary depending upon the 
result of these examinations. The course laid down 
embraces the following subjects : — 



I 



Educational Work, 265 

Fu'st year. — A sermon in classical style and one in 
colloquial, on texts assigned by the Mission. The 
Shorter Catechism to be memorized. Exegesis, Gala- 
tians. Theology, one volume. Evidences of Chris- 
tianity. Natural Theology, one volume. Chinese 
Classics, Mencius. 

Second year. — Sermons as before. Exegesis, He- 
brews. Confession of Faith. Theology completed, two 
volumes. Natural Theology completed, two volumes. 
Discourses on Mark, one volume. Chinese Classics, 
Book of History. 

Third year. — Sermons as before. Church Government 
and Discipline. Exegesis, Gospel of John. Church His- 
tory. Life of Christ. Chinese Classics, Book of Odes. 

After this course has been completed an interval 
of three years elapses, at the end of which a further 
course for the highest grade of assistants is laid down, 
on the completion of which they may be examined 
by Presbytery and admitted as licentiates. In this way, 
a force of well-trained men is being raised up. 

In the theological school of the two German Missions 
young men are trained in exegesis, dogmatics, homi- 
letics, common history, sacred history, and the ordi- 
nary branches of learning. Many of them are keen 
students, and work for them amply repays the labor 
expended. Several of their more promising young 
men have been educated by the Basel Mission, and 
are doing good work as ordained pastors. 

The Wesleyan Mission pursues a different plan, and 
from the more advanced pupils in the day-schools, or 
from among the promising young men in the church, 



266 The Cross and the Dragon. 

selects a class called student preachers. These are placed 
in the chapels under the supervision of the missionaries, 
and associated with the older assistants. They are em- 
ployed in the beginning as chapel-keepers or colporteurs, 
and courses of study laid down for them from year to 
year. By a system of competitive examinations at the 
end of each year they are graded and classified. Once 
admitted to a certain class, they are in the way of promo- 
tion. In this way the work of training young men falls 
equally upon the different members of the Mission; and 
changed about from one chapel to another, they receive 
impressions from each. There is a charm about this 
method, and an emphasis laid on the personality of the 
missionary that leads him to bring all his influence to 
bear in developing and directing the mind of his pupil. 
Written examinations are required, the pupils of one be- 
ing examined by the other members of the Mission. The 
course of study is very similar to that pursued by the 
Presbyterians, and the standard of scholarship attained 
about the same in both. 

In the Baptist Mission, the assistants and all who wish 
for instruction are gathered into classes for a certain 
period every month, and are taught by the mission- 
aries, who prepare special courses of study, through 
which they carry them. At the end of the course they 
return, the preachers to their churches and evangelistic 
work, and the others to their various occupations, and 
at the time appointed come out for a second course. 
In this way a large number are trained in general knowl- 
edge, who, when the call comes, are prepared to act as 
preachers or colporteurs. 



Educational Work. 267 

In addition to the above methods, private classes are 
often held by the missionary in his house, in which spe- 
cial courses of study are pursued. On one occasion a 
number of the older preachers came to me with a request 
for such a class ; and for a long period three evenings in 
the week were given up to the systematic study of the 
Gospel of John, from twelve to twenty young men join- 
ing voluntarily in the course. This spontaneous request 
indicated a desire for instruction that greatly added to 
the teacher's zest in imparting it. In connection with 
the out-stations classes are often formed, when the mis- 
sionary, selecting some central point, gathers the preach- 
ers and members from a certain district for a month's 
study of the Bible. Great good results from these spe- 
cial methods. The contact of minds of widely different 
character, the phases of thought brought to light, and 
the forms of practical truth emphasized by each, give 
one a deep insight into their mental characteristics and 
modes of reasoning. At one such assembly, the ques- 
tion of memorizing the Scripture was brought up ; and a 
young man appeared who undertook to learn the Gospel 
of Matthew in three days. Much interest was displayed 
in the result, and many doubts expressed as to his ability 
to perform the task. At the time appointed he came 
forward, and, without slip or hesitation, went through 
the book with lightning-like rapidity, observing accu- 
rately the divisions of chapters, paragraphs, and even 
the periods. By all these various methods an aggre- 
gate result is obtained that proves the mighty in- 
creasing power of this agency of teaching. The lads in 
their homes repeat the lessons they have learned, and 



268 The Cross and the Dragon, 

unconsciously become the instructors of the family. 
Their school-books are carried home and eagerly ex- 
amined by the fathers and uncles ; the shape and binding, 
the clear type and easy style, are closely studied. The 
contents are compared with their own teachings, and a 
spirit of inquiry awakened; so that not infrequently a 
man's first impressions of the truth may be traced to his 
little son's primary lesson book. In their street games, 
when quarrels arise, the boys may be heard repeating 
the precepts learned in the school, and urging their 
companions to kindness and forbearance. A boat-boy 
from our school who acted as peacemaker in a quarrel, 
and sought to dissuade the stronger from abuse of the 
smaller boy, attracted the attention of the by-standers, 
who remarked, ** Oh, he learned that in the Christian 
school." The school is a perpetual sermon. The chil- 
dren on their way to and fro are daily noticed by the 
people, and often stopped by the curious and questioned 
as to what they learn and how the Christians act. 
Petty persecution is often endured from the scoffs of the 
ignorant and prejudiced ; but the little fellows stand up 
bravely for their schools, and sometimes come to blows 
in their defence. One bright and studious lad, whose 
diligence and brilliant recitations had called forth many 
a word of praise, was assaulted and seriously wounded 
by an uncouth apprentice in a tin-shop. Accompanied 
by the teacher and several of the boys I went to call 
him to account. Escaping through the roof, he eluded 
us; but the whole street joined in condemnation of his 
cruelty and in praise of the school. Many pupils from 
these schools have risen to eminence as merchants, 



I 



Educational Work, 269 

officials, and professional men, and retain great love and 
respect for their teachers ; while the instances are com- 
paratively rare where those who have been instructed 
show any great hostility. Among the girls, especially, 
the greatest interest is shown ; and the days of their 
school life are remembered as the happiest they have 
ever spent. Married and removed to distant places, they 
are often lost sight of; but when accident brings them 
in the way of the missionary, they show how warm is 
their attachment to their teachers, how well the lessons 
learned are remembered, and become the hearty sup- 
porters of Christian work when circumstances permit. 
The young mind once stored with Christian truth can 
never fall fully under the sway of superstition again. 
The seed may long lie dormant, or perhaps may never 
fully germinate ; but it holds, in part at least, the place 
that error would have filled, and thus detracts from its 
power. Preaching for the older and teaching for the 
young, personal influence and pure example, are gradu- 
ally preparing the way for a wide-spread acceptance of 
the truth as it is in Jesus. 

These schools, it will be observed, are mainl)^ religious, 
the Bible being a daily text-book. It is necessary that 
the Chinese books be taught, to secure the patronage 
of the people, and to give the pupils credit for education 
among their friends. This of necessity consumes much 
time and energy; but as the Chinese notion of a liberal 
education is simply to be able to read and write well, 
and as the study of the Christian books supplies them 
with as good and often better knowledge of the written 
characters than they can gain from their own books, a 



270 The Cross and the Dragon. 

great point in its favor is gained with the people. The 
great aim, however, is to give instruction in all impor- 
tant branches, so that they may be raised in point of 
knowledge to a level with scholars in other lands, and 
not be confined to the narrow bounds of their own land 
and language as all their fathers have been. The educa- 
tional series now almost completed will furnish the long- 
sought means to give this general instruction both in 
primary and advanced schools. This series includes 
fifty separate text-books on all important branches, 
varying in style from the simple primer and easy les- 
sons in the elementary departments to elaborate treatises 
on physical geography, chemistry, political economy, 
geology, and astronomy. With this full and varied 
apparatus supplying a long-felt want, the work of edu- 
cation enters upon a new era. The wide-spread and sys- 
tematic adoption of this series gives promise of grand 
results far beyond any yet realized, and encourages the 
hope that a taste for learning in its true and practical 
forms will be excited in the minds of the young, that will 
lead them to shake off the fetters of the cumbrous, life- 
less systems of the past, and enter with eager appetites 
the inviting fields of living knowledge which Christian 
education opens before them. 



Medical Work. 271 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MEDICAL WORK. 

HEALING and teaching go hand in hand, — twin 
brothers that come to the reHef of the suffering 
and the ignorant, the one bringing balm to alleviate 
present misery, the other with knowledge to secure con- 
tinued benefits. The history of medical missions in 
Canton is a noble record of self-denying service freely 
given, and untold benefits bestowed on thousands bur- 
dened with diseases that could not otherwise have been 
relieved. 

The work at present centres in the great hospital, whose 
annual attendance of patients sometimes reaches to more 
than a score of thousands. The present organization 
dates from 1838, when the foreign community, at the sug- 
gestion of Drs. Colledge, Parker, and Bridgeman, united 
in forming the Medical Missionary Society in China, 
the current expenses of the work being guaranteed, with 
the understanding that the surgeon in charge should not 
be dependent upon the Society for his support. On this 
basis the institution has continued growing in extent and 
usefulness every year. Dr. Parker was its first physician, 
and for many years ministered healing to the throngs 
of patients constantly in attendance. Through him it 
gained a popularity and secured a hold on the benevo- 



272 The Cross and the Dragon. 

lence of the ever-changing foreign community that 
assured an ample support; and it is but just to say 
that the merchants and others, conscious no doubt of 
the advantage they receive from the Chinese in the way 
of business, have ever responded hberally to its calls for 
pecuniary help, and provided the physician with the 
means of carrying on extended and important opera- 
tions without feeling hampered in his resources. 

In the course of its history it absorbed the London 
Mission Hospital, which under Dr. Hobson had done a 
noble work, and later on the Hospital of the Presbyte- 
rian Mission was united with it; and the whole, on the 
departure of Dr. Parker, was placed under the care of 
Dr. Kerr, who for thirty years has given the undivided 
energies of his life to this particular form of benevolent 
work. Under his judicious management the institution 
has been developed in every department, and now unites 
hospital, dispensary, and medical college in active and 
efficient work. 

At the close of the late war a large and most valuable 
property in an excellent location, adjoining the Presbyte- 
rian Mission premises, was secured. A residence for the 
physician, extensive wards, dispensing-room, and chapel 
were erected, to which additional buildings have been 
added from time to time, as the growing needs of the 
institution required, until there are now five successive 
lines of good, substantial buildings, four of which are de- 
voted to the accommodation of patients. The rear line, 
which is built in two stories, contains wards for the better 
class of patients, who, by paying a small amount of rent, 
can be accommodated with separate rooms. The latest 



Medical Work. 



'^n 



addition, in the way of architecture, is the large and 
commodious structure on the site of the old chapel. It 
is in two stories, the upper and more spacious constitut- 
ing the place of worship for the native church. It will 
seat over six hundred comfortably, and is said to be the 
finest Protestant church for the Chinese in the south of 
China. Underneath is a smaller chapel and reception 
room for out-patients, in which a daily service is held for 
those residing in the hospital, and special services on 
dispensing days for out-patients. Large, well-lighted 
operating-rooms, lecture-room, and laboratory occupy 
the remainder of the ground floor, and give every facility 
for carrying on the work. Medicines and instruments, 
in quantity and variety to suit the manifold phases of 
disease that come for treatment, are provided. The name 
in Chinese is ** Pok-tsai-ye-kook," meaning "The Hospi- 
tal of Broad and Free Beneficence; " and it is better known 
as a distinct locality in the city than the *' Great Street of 
Benevolence and Rectitude," on which it stands. It is 
one of the sights of the city; and at the time of the 
literary and military examinations, students from remote 
sections of the country come in large numbers to inspect 
the institution. For forty-six years it has poured forth 
one continuous stream of practical benevolence, which 
has penetrated in its numerous branches to almost every 
nook and corner of the province. The statistics of the 
past show that in the twenty-nine years of Dr. Kerr's 
connection with it, the number of out-patients — that 
is, those who come on dispensing days, but do not reside 
in the hospital — has been 511,770, to which should 
be added 19,562 in-patients who have resided in the 

18 



2 74 '^^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 



hospital for a longer or shorter period, making a grand 
total of 53 1 ,332 people relieved. In the same period, the 
number of operations performed was 22,139, and vac- 
cinations 7,399. Since the foundation of the institution 
the whole number of out-patients received has been 
815,435, to which at least 30,000 in-patients should be 
added. 

Connected with the central hospital are branches in 
the interior, at Sz-Ui, Lien-chow, Fu-mun, and Hainan, 
at which the attendance during the past year has been 
about six thousand, and the surgical operations per- 
formed over two hundred. Statistics are usually dry 
and uninteresting, but in these matters are instinct with 
life. Each of these 850,000 cases represents a human 
being who, coming in suffering, has, in most cases, gone 
away rejoicing in relief. The aggregate of misery and 
woe, aggravated by ignorance and the malpractice of 
native leeches, is appalling. Only those who have 
watched from day to day the throngs that come can 
have any just conception of the mass of wretchedness 
and suffering revealed. They come from all classes and 
from all parts of the country, suffering from all the ills 
that mortal flesh inherits or contracts. The list of mal- 
adies treated shows a great contrast to those treated in 
European and American hospitals. Their food, the 
conditions of climate, their habits of living, cause special 
forms to appear; and these, with hereditary diseases 
transmitted from one generation to another, make up a 
catalogue peculiar to the country; and the physician, 
well grounded in the theory of medicine, and familiar 
with the more prevalent forms of disease in his native 



Medical Work. 275 



land, finds it necessary by practical observation to learn 
the phases and workings of this new array of ailments. 
Diseases of the eye abound, produced, in many cases, 
and always aggravated, by the effect of sun, the smoke 
of wood and grass fires used in cooking, and the perni- 
cious custom that barbers have of titillating the eyelids 
of all who pass under their hands. Cataract, entropium, 
and various forms of ophthalmia are most prevalent. 
Skin diseases in painfully varied forms, tumors, various 
forms of calculi, necrosis, and chronic affections without 
number appear, some requiring months of treatment. 
A classification of the people who come would show 
men and women in the proportion of two to one ; it 
would show scholars, tradesmen, farmers, yamen-run- 
ners, and priests ; rich and poor, from all grades of 
society and all parts of the country. The hospital is 
free to all, as its name indicates, beds and medical attend- 
ance being supplied equally to patients of all classes. 
A small fee is received at the gate, and each patient is 
expected to provide his own food and bedding, unless 
in cases of extreme poverty. They come with their 
impedimenta in every imaginable shape and condition : 
some with glistening leather trunks, others with nonde- 
script bundles of rags, the rice-bag forming an important 
appendage to the baggage of each. There will often 
be a run of patients from particular districts for months 
in succession, attracted by the cure of some friend or 
neighbor. They often come in such advanced stages 
of their diseases as to offer scarcely the faintest hope of 
cure; and some expect the doctor to work miracles for 
their recovery. People whose eyes have disappeared 



276 The Cross and the Dragon. 

request the gift of new ones. A young girl was brought 
who through exposure had contracted a disease which 
caused her feet to fall off. The feet were produced, 
carefully wrapped in a cloth, and the doctor asked to put 
them on again, the utter impossibility of the thing never 
seeming to dawn upon their minds in the face of the 
wonderful cures they knew he had performed. She was 
cared for until the suffering limbs were healed, and then 
placed under the charge of some benevolent ladies in 
Hong-Kong, where she was trained in household duties 
and Christian knowledge, and is now the accomplished 
wife of a Wesleyan preacher. The common practice 
of foot-binding has proved a shield to cover her de- 
formity, so that she simply appears as a lady of low 
stature with unusually small feet. 

The unwillingness of the people to submit to opera- 
tions is sometimes a hindrance to the physician's work. 
Men come with tumors to be relieved, and when told 
they must be excised, will say, " Give me medicine, but 
don't use the knife ; " or, " I must consult my mother, as 
she told me not to let the doctor cut me." This springs 
from their fear of mutilating the body, lest they should 
always appear in future states of existence minus im- 
portant members. These cases, however, are the excep- 
tions. They are usually easy patients to operate upon. 
Their nervous system is not highly strung, and under 
the influence of chloroform the most difficult and in- 
tricate operations may be performed with safety, the 
patient in every case recovering readily from the effect 
of the anaesthetic without nervous prostration following. 
The extreme poverty of the people is shown by the fact 



Medical Work. 277 



that many leave when only half restored, to attend to 
their work or business; while for lack of a dollar to 
pay travelling expenses, multitudes endure years of suf- 
fering which a few weeks in the hospital would entirely 
relieve. Their ignorance and superstition are often 
painfully exhibited in their stupid adherence to their 
own methods, and often by the use of native drugs in 
connection with the doctor's treatment, and by their 
observance of heathen rites when the physician's back 
is turned. Women with children affected by certain 
diseases have been seen to light a heap of paper and 
swing the child through the flames to expel some 
malicious spirit. 

The Chinese have no true medical science. Their 
practitioners are chiefly herbalists or alchemists. Their 
whole system is one of pure empiricism, in which they 
have hit upon some remedies of undoubted value ; but 
their ignorance of anatomy and the first principles of 
the healing art stamp the greater part of them as a 
herd of quacks and impostors. Abbe Hue's entertain- 
ing account of his experience when, under one renowned 
physician, he was informed that the igneous principle 
had got the upper hand of the aqueous principle, hence 
he must avoid meat and wine, and live on fruit and 
cooling drinks ; and going to a rival of equal reputation, 
was informed that the aqueous principle was in the 
ascendancy, and the igneous principle below par, ren- 
dering a course of good living necessary, in which all 
weakening food should be avoided, to restore the proper 
balance in his system, would hold good in Canton to- 
day. Certain kinds of food are said to be heating, and 



278 The Cross and the Dragon. 

others cooling, and the pulse felt to determine which 
should be indulged in. People appear with brown spots 
dotting their faces and necks, like marks of small-pox. 
They are caused by the appHcation of lighted incense 
sticks, under the belief that this scarification of the skin 
will heal certain nervous complaints. In dentistry their 
deceptions are of the most patent and farcical kind. 
Toothache is attributed to maggots gnawing at the 
roots, the removal of which gives relief. Each dentist 
is provided with a supply of wooden pegs, or real mag- 
gots, if he can manage to obtain them, which he skil- 
fully conceals in a groove in the side of a wooden probe. 
Manipulating this instrument in probing about the tooth, 
he deftly deposits the peg, which, a moment after, he 
calmly picks up with a pair of forceps and exhibits to 
his patient as the cause of his suffering. The probing 
and consequent bleeding give temporary relief; and the 
man, with the evidence before his eyes that the enemy 
has been expelled, cheerfully pays his fee and departs 
satisfied. If the pain returns the operation is repeated, 
and no deception suspected by many of his victims. 

The work in the hospital is chiefly surgical, perfect 
confidence in foreign drugs being not yet fully estab- 
lished. The Chinese divide their medical practice into 
two departments, the ngoi-foh, or " outside treatment," 
referring to all exterior applications and surgery; and 
the noi-foh, or *' inner treatment," referring to the use of 
medicine internally. In the former the immense superi- 
ority of the missionary doctor is universally conceded ; 
but in the latter the question is not so fully decided, 
many of them still holding to the old remedies, some 



Medical Work, 279 



of which have proved very efficacious. Something of 
the old superstitious fear still lingers in the dread that 
under the cloak of benevolence some subtle draught 
or powder may be administered to produce a magical 
effect and injure the patient. This lurking suspicion 
is sometimes fanned into open hostility by the gentry, 
when the occasion suits them, as occurred recently in 
connection with the Baptist Mission at Ng-chow, their 
medical assistant being accused of distributing poi- 
sonous drugs and magic powders to injure and delude 
the people, a violent assault and the destruction of the 
station being the consequence. 

A prominent feature of the medical work in Canton 
has been the large attendance of women, who form 
about one third of the whole number, nearly three 
hundred thousand having been treated since the foun- 
dation of the hospital. As with all the patients, the 
majority of these are from the poorer classes, but not 
all, by any means ; many from the wealthier families, 
the wives and daughters of merchants, tradesmen, 
scholars, and officials are constantly coming, and fre- 
quently attest their appreciation of the benefits received, 
by donations to the hospital. Full provision is made 
for the reception and special treatment of women. A 
set of wards entirely separate from the men's are for 
the use of the more destitute ; while those who wish, 
and can afford the expense, are provided with separate 
rooms where they can be as secluded as in their own 
homes. Female nurses attend them, and women study- 
ing medicine act as assistants in keeping the record of 
their cases and prescribing for their wants. The arrival 



28o The Cross and the Dragon. 

of Miss Dr. Niles, who enters with enthusiasm upon 
her work, has placed this department in the hospital 
upon a more acceptable footing; and doing away with 
the necessity of male attendance, except in critical 
cases, has removed the last obstacle that could deter 
the most refined Chinese lady from seeking relief from 
the foreign physician. 

Associated with the physician is found an efficient 
staff of native assistant surgeons, trained by Dr. Kerr, 
some of whom have attained great proficiency in par- 
ticular directions. In the skilful performance of the 
operation for cataract, Dr. So-to-meng stands almost 
unrivalled. His steady nerve and delicate use of the 
knife insure almost invariable success. In the scores 
of cases that pass under his hands every year, very few 
prove unsuccessful, and when unfavorable results occur, 
they are generally due to the carelessness of the patient, 
and reflect in no way upon the skill of the surgeon. 
Another has made a specialty of entropium, and finds 
a rich field for his talents. For the neatness of the 
operation and the permanent relief given, he has seldom 
been excelled. Others possess general skill and render 
efficient aid. The capital operations of lithotomy and 
ovariotomy are never intrusted to natives, the conscien- 
tious surgeon fearing to risk precious lives even for the 
sake of giving practice to his pupils. Dr. Kerr's effi- 
ciency in the former of these is attested by eight hun- 
dred and fifty operations performed ; as many as seventy 
sometimes passing under his hand in one year. The 
large percentage of nineteen out of twenty who recover 
gives incontrovertible proof of the great skill exercised. 



Medical Work 281 



His success in this one particular line is such as to place 
him among the foremost surgeons of the age. 

The services of the physician are in constant requisi- 
tion among the families of the natives. Requests come 
from the Viceroy to cure him of a lame foot, from the 
district magistrate to heal a carbuncle, from the salt 
commissioner to attend some member of his family, 
and from minor officials to give relief to themselves or 
friends. From the wealthy and others, messengers come 
in haste for him to save a wife or a daughter from death 
from opium poison, or imminent danger from other 
causes. Sometimes from country districts boats are 
sent post-haste to fetch him ; the great drawback in 
such cases being that he is too often called in when the 
hope of giving relief is so faint that no room for skill 
is found. Besides the routine work of the hospital 
tours are sometimes made into the country, a few days 
being spent in each large town or market centre. The 
concourse of people attracted on such occasions is im- 
mense ; and in front of a temple or under some tempo- 
rary structure, medicines are dispensed and hundreds 
relieved. It is a motley assembly that gathers, and the 
procession of peculiar characters that passes under in- 
spection is unique. Politeness and gratitude, as a rule, 
characterize the mass of them ; but the opposite is not 
unknown. A poor wizened specimen of the genus 
homo will nudge his way through the crowd with a 
bottle in his hand, and demand, '* Foreign devil, give 
me some medicine." The kind doctor, administering 
a mild rebuke for his rudeness, fills his phial ; while 
the more respectable people are most vigorous in 



282 The Cross and the Dragon, 

denouncing his unpardonable lack of manners. Some 
shameless wretch, used as a tool by the bigoted and 
unreasoning gentry, will cut the supports of the frail 
structure, and cause it to fall about the doctor's ears. 
Only the simplest operations can be performed under 
such circumstances; and a sudden furor to have their 
teeth extracted will seize the people, and the ground 
be strewed in a short time with a motley collection that 
would make the fortune of a travelling dentist. 

The aim of the medical missionary is not simply to 
give relief to the individuals that apply to him, but 
to lay the foundations of a true medical science. To 
secure this most important result, two departments of 
labor are added to his practical work as physician and 
surgeon. The first is the instruction of students. To 
this much time and strength are devoted. During the 
course of his career Dr. Kerr has instructed some scores 
of pupils, thirty of whom have taken the full course 
and received certificates. Several of these have become 
noted as surgeons ; and one half, at least, have done well 
in general practice, making for themselves names and 
fortunes. Much trouble and annoyance have grown out 
of the want of thoroughness in those who study. The 
amount of knowledge and experience demanded of a 
native practitioner is not extensive, so that many come 
for a few months and then consider themselves equipped 
for their profession, put out their sign in some interior 
town, proclaim themselves pupils of the foreign doctor, 
and attract many people. Much evil has resulted from 
the ignorance and presumption of these charlatans, and 
the true nature and benefit of Western medical science 



Medical Work. 283 



obscured by their false representations. The plan of 
instruction pursued requires constant attendance on 
lectures, clinical and general, for at least three years, at 
the end of which period a thorough examination is re- 
quired by a competent physician, or several, if possible, 
other than their instructor. Upon their completion of 
the prescribed course and a satisfactory examination, 
they are furnished with a certificate of competency and 
recommended as approved practitioners. For the in- 
struction of these medical students and the diffusion of 
general medical knowledge, translations of standard 
works and original compositions are prepared. The 
productions of other physicians in this department of 
literature are utilized, and copies of their works placed 
in the hands of each member of the class. In this 
special line. Dr. Kerr has brought peculiar talents to 
bear, and produced the following works : " Chemistry," 
four volumes; '* Materia Medica," two volumes; ''Theory 
and Practice," six volumes ; " Eye Diseases," " Skin Dis- 
eases," *' Diagnosis," " Surgery," " Syphilis," " Bandag- 
ing," " Hygiene," each of these seven in one volume ; and 
" Physiology," in three volumes, is now in press. By his 
practical work in the hospital, by the instruction of scores 
of pupils, and by this contribution of more than a score 
of valuable volumes, he has laid deep the foundations of 
medical science in China. These fruits of his constant 
and varied labors will ever remain as a noble monument 
of his skill, energy, and devotion. 

The religious work in the hospital is connected with 
the Presbyterian Mission, on the principle that the Mis- 
sion which supplies the physician shall have control of all 



284 The Cross and the Dragon, 

such work. Its close proximity to the mission houses 
affords every facility for efficient supervision. Every 
effort is made to impress the people who come with the 
importance of Christian truth. The benevolent work of 
healing is shown to be the outcome of Christianity ; and 
while receiving physical help, they are urged to accept 
the greater blessings of spiritual good. As a rule, those 
who receive bodily relief are more susceptible of relig- 
ious impressions. By special services, by constant visi- 
tation through the wards, in which the missionary is 
aided by native evangelists, by the distribution of books 
and tracts suited to their understanding, the truth is 
brought to their attention. Every year a number, vary- 
ing from twelve to twent}% make profession of their faith 
in Christ ; while many others go back to their homes fully 
persuaded of the truth of Christianity, but prevented from 
making a public profession of their faith by the opposi- 
tion of friends. The branch dispensaries in the interior 
are under the supervision of medical missionaries, and are 
powerful agents in conciliating the people and opening 
the way for more direct efforts to Christianize them. 
In Hainan, especially, a work beyond the strength of 
the physician, who is there alone, is growing up, the 
people coming by hundreds daily. 

In the neighboring city of Fat-Shan a hospital in 
connection with the Wesleyan Mission has been estab- 
lished, and is proving a mighty agency in that populous 
centre. The plans of work pursued are similar to those 
in Canton, and the attendance of patients very large. 

The hospital in Canton is not a sectarian institution. 
The body which controls its operations is composed of 



Medical Work. 285 



all the missionaries resident in Canton, who are, ex offi- 
cio, members of the society, and all others who contrib- 
ute not less than fifteen dollars a year. A managing 
committee consisting of representatives of the various 
missionary bodies and of the general community, con- 
ducts the affairs. The annual subscription list shows 
how generally it is patronized by people of all national- 
ities, Parsees and Chinese joining with Anglo-Saxons in 
its support. The Viceroy, Hoppo, and other high offi- 
cials are regular contributors ; while special gifts from 
merchants and mandarins add from time to time to its 
income. Attention is given as far as possible to all 
classes who come. Special provisions are made for the 
cure of victims of the opium habit, and in the past 
many of this class have received relief; but their subse- 
quent course has proved that while cured, great power of 
will, and a moral courage which but few Chinamen pos- 
sess, are required to stand against renewed temptation. 
The course of treatment requires fifteen days ; and such 
is the force of the habit that those who come volunta- 
rily, many of them from a great distance, will lay their 
plans as they enter for secretly obtaining supplies of the 
drug. They are required to deposit pledge money as 
security that they will remain the requisite time, and 
must be searched and guarded daily to prevent them from 
concealing or purchasing opium. No stronger proof of 
the almost unconquerable force of the habit is needed 
than the sight of these men, who long to be healed, and 
come expressly for that purpose, resorting to all kinds 
of subterfuges, such as bribing the gate-keeper or attend- 
ants or some passing pedler, to bring to them the very 



Medical Work. 287 



\ 



enemy they are seeking to escape from. A separate 
ward is devoted to their treatment ; and many have been 
sent home free from the debasing slavery that bhghts 
so many in that land. Many lepers appear among the 
patients, chiefly those in whom the incipient stages be- 
gin to appear, and who, unconscious of their misfortune, 
or hoping it may be checked, apply for rehef. Chinese 
leprosy, while incurable, is not contagious except by 
close and constant contact. It may be mitigated, but 
not cured. No attempt, such as has been successfully 
tried in the Mission Hospital in Swatow, to relieve them, 
has been made in Canton. It is impossible to help all; 
and the energies of those engaged have been directed 
to more hopeful subjects in a way worthy of all praise. 
Special attention is given to vaccination, and the work 
begun by the hospital has been taken up and pushed 
vigorously forward by native associations, as many as 
five hundred specialists being despatched in one season 
to interior districts, in the interests of this work. 

The Christian physician is a blessing wherever he 
goes. His services are required in every community 
to minister to the health of the missionaries, while his 
influence among the natives is beyond all power to 
es'timate. In connection with his special work come 
many bright scenes to cheer the heart. A poor woman, 
bowed almost double by physical infirmity, and suffer- 
ing from a troublesome disease, came to the hospital. 
After hearing the Gospel for a few times, the truth began 
to dawn upon her mind, and, as she realized its mean- 
ing, she exclaimed, " I never heard anything like this 
before ; I never knew there was a God who loved me, a 



288 The Cross and the Dragon. 

Saviour who died for me, a heaven to which I might 
go." She became a happy, joyous Christian in spite 
of her infirmity, and returning to her home, eighty miles 
in the interior, bore such testimony to the truth of Christ, 
that her father-in-law, her mother-in-law, her niece, and 
her cousin soon after became Christians ; and we have 
now a station in her native village. Some come only to 
die, but the light of the Cross illumines their way to the 
grave ; and from these beds of pain many a ransomed 
spirit has winged its flight to the fair world on high. 
Many, as they depart, take special pains to see the phy- 
sician, the pastor, and the ladies, saying, " Thanks to you, 
Doctor ; thanks to you. Pastor ; thanks to you, Mistress ; 
and thanks to Jesus, for the blessings I have received." 
In every district of the country they are found, and are 
ready to greet the missionary in his travel and give 
glad evidence of their gratitude. No one who has re- 
ceived help from the medical missionary can ever be so 
prejudiced and bigoted as before. Many, it is true, are 
bad beyond the hope of redemption, and insult the phy- 
sician to his face, while the gifts of his benevolence are 
in their hands, but of these we expect nothing. The 
good effects are seen in numberless ways: in the re- 
moval of prejudice and the awakening of friendly feel- 
ings ; in lessening the power of the superstition which 
connects diseases with evil spirits and sends the suffer- 
ing to the idol instead of to the physician ; and in giving 
constant proof of the unselfish character of our religion. 
A striking evidence of the power of the work is 
found in Canton, where a rival institution, supported en- 
tirely by the Chinese, has been established. It is mainly 



Medical Work. 289 



a hospital, where Chinese physicians of reputation are 
engaged to prescribe for the patients who attend. The 
medical advice is in every case gratuitous, but the med- 
icines must be purchased, except in cases where special 
orders are given. This native institution, the indirect 
result of the missionary hospital, has been productive 
of much good. Called into existence by a spirit of 
rivalry, with the design, no doubt, on the part of its 
founders, to counteract the growing power and influ- 
ence of the other, it has not interfered to any percep- 
tible degree with the work of the missionary physician, 
while it has proved helpful to many of the Chinese. 
Beginning as a hospital, it has widened the circle of its 
charities, so that under its patronage free schools and 
preaching-halls are opened, funds distributed for the 
relief of people suffering from fire, flood, or famine, and 
coffins provided for those who die in destitute circum- 
stances. The missionary physician has been careful to 
avoid any unnecessary antagonism, and has accepted 
its provision of coffins for poor patients who die in the 
wards. No surer sign of the power of any agency can 
be found than the adoption of similar methods by those 
who oppose it; and the Oi-Yuk-t'ong of Canton, sup- 
ported by the merchants and gentry to the extent of 
tens of thousands of dollars, is a standing proof of the 
practical power of the Pok-tsai hospital among the peo- 
ple of Canton. We see in this a proof that all things 
are working together for the spread of enlightened ideas 
and the amelioration of human misery. 

The Christian physician can find no wider or nobler 
field for his energies than this hospital in Canton pre- 

19 



290 The Cross and the Dragon. 

sents. It combines all the elements that go to make a 
man prominent in his profession, and secures to him the 
high eminence of being a true philanthropist. The de- 
velopment of a true medical science will prove of untold 
benefit to this quack-ridden people ; the practical train- 
ing of young physicians will form fresh magazines of 
knowledge and influence ; the direct relief of scores of 
thousands will lessen the tale of suffering under which 
they helplessly groan ; while the prejudice removed, the 
hostility concihated, the friendliness enkindled, prepare 
the way for the greater blessings of moral and spiritual 
good. A young man of ability, energy, and true devotion 
is greatly needed to assist Dr. Kerr, whose toilsome ser- 
vices, given without stint or thought of self, have broken 
his health, so that he can never again ascend his princely 
throne and dispense knowledge and healing mercies as 
in the days gone by. Emphasis is laid on the spiritual 
qualifications of the physician. He must be a man of 
entire consecration, devoid of self-seeking; for sad expe- 
rience, in Canton too, has shown that the love of money 
and the temptations of a lucrative practice among the 
foreign residents have, once at least, proved too strong 
for the moral courage of the physician, and brought 
serious disaster upon the work. 

In the great scheme of Christian benevolence so 
many agencies are interwoven, that when we touch one 
we touch all; and when one suffers all are affected. 
Most of the native doctors educated are Christians, and 
engage more or less in evangelistic work wherever they 
go ; while many of the native preachers acquire a knowl- 
edge of medicine to aid them in their more important 



Medical Work. 291 



work. In the opening of new fields the physician is often 
indispensable, and takes precedence of the preacher 
in importance. The doctor is frequently covered with 
polite attentions, while his clerical brother is dismissed 
with the remark, '' Oh ! he is a great man too, but is 
only a preacher." 

Could all the patients as they return to their homes 
be followed, and their story as they recount their expe- 
riences be heard ; could all the little streams of Christian 
truth be traced, as they trickle through the land, in the 
wake of those who repeat the teachings heard in the 
wards and chapel ; could the testimony of those who 
have accepted the truth, as they go to their distant vil- 
lages, be collected; could all the schools and stations 
opened through this agency, and those whose favor was 
gained through medical work be counted ; could all 
those who through healing have been led to salvation, 
be reckoned up, — what a grand aggregate of good it 
would make ! 



292 The Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER XV. 

WORK FOR WOMEN. 

THE crucial test of every system is found in the 
position it accords to woman ; and in China, 
although she is treated with more consideration than in 
many heathen countries, she is yet regarded as far 
beneath the " lords of creation." Each of China's great 
systems of religion, as it has passed under review, has 
signally failed in this important test. The Gospel, with 
its evangel of love and hope, has come to break the 
fetters of superstition and misbelief, and release the two 
hundred millions of women and girls in that land, from 
the bondage of ignorance, fear, and oppression. The 
noble response which Christian women in Europe and 
America have made to the mute appeal of their be- 
nighted sisters in the dark lands of error, has nowhere 
opened a more hopeful field than among the women of 
Canton. During the last decade, this work has advanced 
from the first stages of experiment, to its present well- 
established and thoroughly organized system. With 
the various departments supplied with those well fitted 
for each special work, and zealous, judicious, and effi- 
cient leaders at the head of the movement, it is going 
forward in a glorious course of conquest, its trophies 
seen in the light, the knowledge, and the comfort 



Work for Women. 293 

brought to hundreds of the people. The statement 
would doubtless be received with scorn by the haughty 
Chinese literati^ and perhaps with scarcely greater favor 
by some from Western lands who rely too much upon 
purely Chinese methods in bringing the Gospel to the 
people ; yet I believe it to be true, that the great hope 
of the conversion of China is to be found in the women. 
They are the religious portion of the people. The men, 
it might almost be said, have no religion. The more 
intelligent are often atheists, materialists, pantheists, or 
at best agnostics. They are all Confucianists ; and when 
we know what an amount of self-conceit and fossilized 
conservatism that means, it is enough to discourage one. 
The uneducated are either indifferent or grossly super- 
stitious, an inert, stolid mass; but the women have 
deep religious instincts. While the men worship out of 
pure selfishness, the women are often prompted by the 
longing of their heart for sympathy and comfort. They 
throng the temples, and often in their choice of deities 
show the deep yearnings of their heart for help and 
deliverance, such as none but Jesus can give. It is the 
mother that takes the little child to the temple, places 
the mat for him, and teaches him to kneel, to knock 
the head, and go through all the forms of idolatrous 
worship. It is the mother who sees that the shrines in 
the house are not neglected, that incense is lighted 
every morning and evening, and special offerings made 
at stated periods. The mother, too, holds an important 
place in the control of the household, and, though often 
kept behind the scenes, exerts a powerful influence over 
her children. When we have reached the mothers, we 



2*94 ^^^ Cross a7id the Dragon, 

have reached the heart of the people; and when the 
mothers are converted, their households are in a fair way 
to become Christian. Many instances arc on record, 
where the wife has brought the husband, and the mother 
her sons, to accept the truth ; while the tenacity with 
which they cling to their religious beliefs is shown by 
the wife holding out against all the entreaties of her 
husband, and the mother against those of her sons, to 
become Christians. 

The customs of the country, the strict separation of 
the sexes, and the hereditary beliefs of the people, have 
made it necessary to organize a special department of 
work for the evangelization of the women. This work 
is at present carried on mainly by the American Pres- 
byterian and Baptist Missions, the former having seven 
unmarried ladies, fifteen Bible-women, and twenty-five 
native teachers of schools ; and the latter three unmarried 
ladies, seven Bible-women, and five teachers. Several 
phases of the work have been discussed in preceding 
chapters, where the schools and agencies connected 
with them have received attention. Much still remains 
to be said before the full scope of the enterprise is 
brought clearly to view. 

The missionary ladies are aided by t^vo classes of 
assistants, namely, the teachers and the Bible-women ; 
the duties of the former are definitely laid out in the 
general routine of their school work, while those of the 
latter are of a more varied character, determined in a 
great measure by the exigencies of the occasion. The 
corps of teachers is chiefly composed of those who have 
been trained in the schools under the direct superv^ision 



Work for Women, 295 

of the missionaries, and have shown good quahfications 
for the duties they have undertaken. The Bible-women 
are selected with special reference to their personal char- 
acter, and power to attract and influence the people. 
Most of them are widows, without family cares, who can 
give themselves uninterruptedly to the work. Some of 
them are ladies of superior knowledge and tact, genteel 
in bearing, persuasive in manner, and unselfishly de- 
voted to the good of their fellow-sisters. 

For the sake of convenience, this work may be divided 
into four sections : first, special efforts made in connec- 
tion with the day-schools ; second, visitation of women 
in their houses; third, instruction of women in the 
hospital ; and fourth, special tours of work through 
the country. 

The large meetings at the schools are a special feature 
of this work. Attracted by the presence of the mis- 
sionary, or drawn by their interest in the little girls, the 
rooms are often crowded by women, who listen with 
the closest attention to all that is said. The singing, the 
recitations, the address of the lady, are fully appreciated ; 
and the Bible-woman who assists, with her knowledge of 
native character and the motives that control them, 
improves the occasion to impress the lessons in a way 
peculiarly adapted to the circumstances. Each school 
is made the centre of evangelistic work for the women. 
The acquaintance of those in the neighborhood is made, 
and many invitations are received to visit them in their 
homes. Of the hundreds who hear, a few believe and 
are carefully instructed in the fundamental truths. The 
contrast to their own forms of worship and blessings 



296 The Cross a7td the Dragon, 

sought is ever a source of wonder to them ; and as the 
deep meaning of the Gospel begins to dawn upon them, 
and its power to m.eet the cravings of their hearts is felt, 
they accept it with a simple faith that is most touching. 
Most of the schools are in secluded streets where the 
women feel free to go from house to house ; but custom 
prevents most of them from going beyond their own 
immediate neighborhood, so that to reach them syste- 
matically they must be visited in their homes. Pursued 
with tact and judgment, much can be accomplished by 
this method. In many cases, it is true, the spirit of 
opposition is strong, while in others the husband or 
brother may forbid such intercourse, and the doors of the 
house be closed. Again, the object of the visit may not 
be known, and suspicious people may answer the knock 
with a sharp rebuff; but by adopting a conciliatory man- 
ner, and never intruding where dislike is shown, great 
things may be accomplished. The special invitations 
are often more than it is in the power of the missionary 
to accept; but where entrance is desired to some partic- 
ular house, a message is sent a few days in advance, 
stating the time and object of the proposed visit. Such 
messages frequently call forth most cordial replies, and 
lead not only to a meeting with the ladies of that par- 
ticular household, but oftentimes a large company from 
the neighboring houses will be gathered in, and the lady 
find perhaps forty or fifty women waiting to receive her. 
Tea and refreshments are brought in, also a pipe if she 
will have it, and every polite attention shown. The 
lady is subjected to the closest scrutiny, her appear- 
ance, dress, and everything remarked upon with the 



Work for Women, 297 

greatest freedom and iiaivete. In the course of the con- 
versation on the customs of foreign people or on the re- 
Hgious practices of different nations, the way is opened 
for inquiring into their beliefs and desires, and favorable 
opportunities found for impressing Christian truth. 
Many districts in Canton have been visited in this way, 
and the ladies in going through the streets are frequently 
invited to enter the houses as they pass. There is no 
social barrier to interfere with such intercourse, the 
openings depending chiefly on the inclination of the 
people. 

The Bible-women usually reside at the schools, which 
become important not only as general centres, but as the 
means of giving permanence to the results attained. 
Among the pathetic incidents of this work is the story 
of the little deformed girl, A-Keet. She was hunch- 
backed, small in stature, and in delicate health, and 
regarded with disfavor in consequence. She became a 
pupil in the day-school ; and her heart, rendered more 
susceptible by hardship and suffering, soon opened to 
receive the peace of Christ. Her conversion was a com- 
plete and joyous one ; she astonished the elders and pas- 
tor by her deep experimental knowledge of the truth. 
Her happy trust and consciousness of Christ's presence 
and help were shown as her eyes kindled when she spoke 
of His love to her and her faith in His care and pro- 
tection. Although eleven years old when she appeared 
before the session preparatory to uniting with the church, 
she looked like a child of six ; but in the pale, bright 
face upturned there shone the light of peace that gave 
unmistakable proof that the secret of the Lord had been 



298 The Cross and the Dragon, 

revealed to her. She distinguished herself in the board- 
ing-school in general attainments, but especially excelled 
in the beauty of her handwriting, and was able to assist 
in teaching for a few years ; but smitten by disease, she 
was soon rendered helpless and made to suffer months 
of agony. Her face was ever a picture of sweet serenity ; 
her great delight was to talk of Jesus and urge her friends 
to receive Him; through her prayers and tender en- 
treaties, her mother was brought to the Saviour. Her 
favorite passage was, '' Come unto me all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," which she 
would quote as expressly given for her comfort. Her 
pure, and spirituelle face, upturned with eagerness to 
receive the message of divine love, her patient resigna- 
tion and perfect trust, were beautiful to look upon, and 
showed what a priceless pearl was found in that frail 
body. Living with her mother in the merest hovel, she 
never murmured at her fate, but ever shed the radiance 
of a sweet and gentle spirit through the comfortless 
room, and filled it with the fragrance of her joyous trust 
in Jesus. Her last days were brightened by permission 
to have a room in the boarding-school, where, during 
vacation, she was carefully tended by her mother until 
the bright spirit took its glad flight. Without the Gos- 
pel the story of this beautiful life would have been one 
of misery and neglect, her misfortune only tending to 
increase the unkindness of her people. 

The women in the hospital have always claimed a large 
share in the efforts of the ladies. Some have devoted 
a portion of their time every week to visiting the wards, 
gathering the women around them to hear the Bible 



Work for Women. 299 

stories and learn of Jesus' love. These women, coming 
from all parts of the country and from all classes of the 
people, are often more susceptible of religious impres- 
sions than the same number under different circum- 
stances. Their condition is at times pitiable in the 
extreme. Afflicted by desperate maladies, worn down 
by lives of hardship, and harassed by numberless anx- 
ieties, the quiet of the wards is a great relief in itself. 
Their bodily ills furnish an ever-available text for lead- 
ing them to trust their hearts to the Healer of all woes, 
and many respond to God's message of love with a sin- 
cere faith. The attachment they show to the ladies 
indicates the influence they have gained over them ; and 
the proofs of their entire acceptance of the Christian 
faith are often most conclusive. Two Bible-women and 
several of those under instruction in the woman's school 
go among these women daily, and the good thus accom- 
plished can never be fully estimated. Besides those who 
make a public profession of their faith, many go back to 
their homes true Christians, and lead consistent lives in 
the midst of the most adverse and trying circumstances. 
In a distant town in the interior a missionary met a 
woman who had learned the truth in the hospital. She 
professed to be a Christian and to live a Christian life ; 
she had removed the idols from her house and taught 
her children to pray to Jesus, and never hesitated to con- 
fess His name. She knew nothing, however, of baptism 
or of the outward church, but when their meaning was 
explained to her, expressed her readiness to be baptized. 
Many of those who have been taught are the precursors 
of settled work in their distant villages. One of these 



300 The Cross and the Dragon. 

carried the truth to her home, and exerted such a salu- 
tary influence that many of her near relatives have come 
to a knowledge of the truth, and the nucleus of a church 
has been formed. The church meets in her house ; and 
over the entrance-way, instead of the usual good-luck 
papers, is this inscription : " The house of those who be- 
lieve in Jesus." It is well known throughout the village ; 
and the missionary, on his way thither, is often greeted 
with the words, *' Oh, you are coming again to preach 
in Ip-kan-ning's house." A broad, open space in front 
of the main room affords facilities for gathering a large 
assembly, and the meeting being held in a private house, 
great numbers of women and girls feel free to come. 
Such occasions are always improved ; and through these 
women from the hospital many excellent openings for 
^work in the country are secured. 

The inconveniences of travel often make it difficult 
for Bible-women to penetrate the interior. They some- 
times find accommodations at the out-stations, and 
making the chapel their head-quarters, visit the sur- 
rounding villages. Their presence there is a help to 
the work in many ways. For instance, in Canton our 
churches are usually large, and the presence of the 
ladies of the Mission, and a concession to the demands 
of prevailing custom, in the shape of a partition divid- 
ing the men from the women, enable them to attend 
the services without exciting unfavorable remark; but 
in the country the chapels are usually small, and are 
situated in market centres, apart from the residences 
G^- the people, so that it is more difficult for them to 
attend ; moreover, the depraved nature of the people 



Work for Women, 301 

leads them to put the worst possible construction upon 
the attendance of women at the chapels, thus deterring 
many who would like to come. The presence of an 
elderly Bible-woman enables them to attend without 
being exposed so much to the base criticism of the 
people ; so that instead of congregations and churches 
composed entirely of men, as was formerly the case, in 
these stations where Bible-women are at work, women 
are coming as well. The good effect is further seen 
in breaking down prejudice in the villages and lead- 
ing many to send their daughters to the boarding- 
school, whence they return with enlightened ideas to 
spread in still wider circles the benign influences of the 
Gospel. 

At the station in Liu-p6 lived the Bible-woman, Atsit, 
whose heart was truly touched by the love of God. 
Without extraordinary gifts, she devoted herself to 
the instruction of the women in the populous villages 
around. Unsparing of herself, she would travel many 
miles, under the blazing summer sun, to visit towns 
where some had expressed a desire to hear the truth; 
under the guidance of a woman whom she had taught, 
long journeys were made, and the name of Jesus pub- 
lished where no ear had ever heard it before ; capful 
record was kept of the women returning from the 
hospital, and special efforts made to follow them up ; 
some, to whom no permanent relief could be given, 
were visited and consoled in their desolation. Age, 
disease, and the fatigues of a laborious life brought 
her to the grave ; and the affection of the people she 
taught was shown by their sending a deputation to the 



302 The Cross and the Dragon. 

city to learn of her welfare, and to express their sorrow 
that she could not continue with them. 

Of superior talents and pleasing manner, Mrs. Lee- 
Sam has shown great efficiency. More highly educated, 
to begin with, than most who come, she received great 
benefit from her course in the school, and returning 
to her native district, has done a good work for the 
women there. With a winning manner and great 
facility for instruction, she has gathered a company of 
intelligent Christians who worship with her continually, 
and at each communion season brings out several as 
applicants for baptism. Other villages have sent for 
her to visit them ; so that for miles around she is known 
as the *' lady who teaches of Jesus," her learning and 
refinement commanding universal respect. Not women 
alone, but men as well, have benefited by her instruc- 
tion ; and several scholars, convinced of the truth of the 
Gospel she teaches, have declared their intention to 
devote themselves to its study. 

Fung-Kiu is one of the younger Bible-readers and 
the wife of a native preacher. As a school-girl she 
showed remarkable talents, and in her discourses to the 
women displayed a breadth of comprehension and an 
accuracy of expression that many a practised theolo- 
gian could not excel ; while her prayers were character- 
ized by a richness of thought and a fluency of utterance 
most remarkable in a girl of sixteen. Her wonderful 
familiarity with Scripture gave her unusual power, her 
favorite expression in prayer being, "Search me, O God, 
and know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; 
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me 



Work for Women, 303 

in the way everlasting." She is now working in the hos- 
pital, where her great personal attractions, as well as 
her more solid qualities, give her great influence. In 
villages adjacent to Canton are several girls' schools, 
which constitute the chief objects of interest in these 
towns. The arrival of the missionary is an event that 
stirs the whole population : throngs assemble to see 
her land from the boat or dismount from her sedan 
chair, and with every mark of respect follow her toward 
the school, where she is eagerly expected by the pupils. 
The freedom of a small village, where each one knows 
the other, often permits a general audience of women 
and men to listen to the service. These villages, so 
favored, become the envy of their neighbors, and 
requests are often received for schools in adjoining 
towns. Sometimes the bigoted and suspicious literati 
check the spontaneous desire of the villagers, and forbid 
such schools to be opened. 

Delegations from villages or the more remote dis- 
tricts of the city sometimes visit the missionary with 
requests for schools or Bible-women. On one occasion 
an unusual commotion in the street led one of the ladies 
to investigate the cause. The street was filled with a 
company of women, who closely examined the appear- 
ance of the houses as though in search of some par- 
ticular place ; they soon came to a stand in front of her 
residence, and knocked at the gate. An answer to the 
summons revealed the fact that they were a company 
from a village northwest of the city, come to be in- 
structed in the Gospel. The doors were opened, and 
nearly one hundred women entered. The succeeding 



304 The Cross and the Dragon. 

hours of the day were given up to their instruction and 
entertainment. Delighted with their reception and 
anxious to learn more, they renewed their request for 
a teacher and a Bible-reader, and departed, leaving the 
ladies to rejoice over such indications of interest and 
readiness to be taught. Accompanying their husbands 
on long journeys into the interior, many of the ladies, 
with the assistance of Bible-women, do much for the 
women of the large cities inland. Gathering them in the 
boat, or invited to some house in the town, the precious 
story, so new and strange to them, is repeated. The 
first foreign lady who entered the gates of the city of 
San-ui, did so at the invitation of some ladies. Pro- 
ceeding with her little daughter in a covered sedan 
chair through the street, where such a sight had never 
before been witnessed, she was received by the ladies, 
who were dressed in silken robes, with their little feet in 
bright red slippers, and their hair elaborately dressed. 
Conducted to the ladies' apartments, tables were spread 
with sweetmeats and tea; and after the usual formalities, 
the conversation turned on the subject of religion, in 
which the lady, assisted by the old Bible-reader, ever 
her faithful attendant on such occasions, opened the 
wondrous story to them. They were the first words 
spoken by women for Jesus in that city, and are often 
referred to by those who heard them. In passing 
through this very city I have frequently been struck 
with the large numbers of well-dressed, intelligent 
women who come to the doors to look, and wondered 
when the time would come for them to receive the 
truth. This casual visit, followed by many since, 



Work for Women, 305 

showed their readiness to hear ; but the thousands that 
might be taught, yet pass away every year in ^tter 
ignorance of the love of God, weigh Hke a burden 
upon the hearts of those who know their condition. 
In such visits many novel and striking experiences are 
met with, and a curious insight gained into the habits 
and tastes of the people. The questions they ask, the 
refreshments they bring, and the astounding ideas they 
express, show how utterly unhke other people they 
are. 

The visit of the missionary is often the event of the 
year in remote parts of the country ; and when the ladies 
announce their readiness to receive the women, their 
boats become the scene of a grand levee. At the foot 
of the Lien-chow pagoda, several boats were anchored 
for a few days, and the ladies made special arrangements 
to meet the women. All day long small boats from the 
city, a mile above, came filled to overflowing. They 
were admitted by companies, entertained, and dismissed 
to make room for others, until almost the whole female 
population of the place had been received. The grow- 
ing importance of this department of the work is one 
of its most encouraging features. The demand is far 
beyond the power to meet it fully, and shows the need 
of increased facilities. 

The contrast between the early stages of w( rk for 
women and the present state of efficient organization 
shows most encouraging proofs of advance. The relief 
from the constant and heavy drudgery in the mere rou- 
tine work of the schools, which the native teachers now 
do, adds many years of usefulness to the lives of the 

20 



3o6 The Cross and the Dragon, 

missionaries, and secures more thoroughness in teaching 
and The more practical apphcation of special talents in 
the line of direct work than was attained when the ladies, 
in addition to their household cares, were compelled to 
do several hours* daily teaching as well. 

The work is still in its infancy, and the means at com- 
mand far below the necessities of the enterprise. It is 
still chiefly confined to the city and the immediate 
vicinity, the interior being touched only at isolated 
points and by occasional journeys. Wherever the women 
have gone, a readiness to be taught has been found, and 
the zealous Bible-reader is sometimes kept till the mid- 
night hour explaining the message she has brought. 
No class of people ever needed the comfort of the Gos- 
pel more than the women of China. Ground down by 
hardship and poverty, their homes are bare and cheerless, 
their lives barren and hopeless, their thoughts and affec- 
tions warped and misdirected. A more dreary existence 
can scarcely be imagined. The Gospel opens a new 
world to them. Many of them learn for the first time 
that they have souls ; they learn the meaning of life, and 
feel the inspiration of a hope never dreamed of before ; 
their sordid round of toil is cheered by the thought of 
One who cares for them ; the mother-love, crushed out 
by superstition and penury, is revived ; the nameless 
dread of a thousand evils but vaguely apprehended 
gives place to a confiding trust in the all-wise Father. 
The place has yet to be found where the truth has been 
clearly presented to the women by their Christian sisters, 
that some did not embrace it. Their ceaseless attend- 
ance at the temples, their presence by thousands at 



Work for Women. 307 

special feasts and anniversaries to which some vague 
hope of benefit to come impels them, their intense 
belief in prevailing superstitions, are themselves prime 
elements in the hope that, when the knowledge of the 
truth as it is in Jesus reaches them, they will receive it 
with enthusiasm. Kept in ignorance and restricted by 
absurd regulations, a sense of inferiority has kept them 
down. But the dawn is reaching them in their homes; 
the idol, the amulet, and the written charm are fading 
in their power; and the all-protecting wing of Him 
who made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the 
face of the earth is gradually extending its benign 
shadow over the weary, burdened daughters of the 
Broad East. 



3o8 The Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

WORK FOR ORPHANS AND OUTCASTS. 

IN striking contrast to the respect shown to elders and 
superiors, appears their heartless treatment of young 
children. The murder of father or mother is met by 
the severest punishment known to Chinese law; \vhilst 
the murder of innocent children scarcely calls forth a 
word of comment from the neighborhood, much less 
the censures of the law. Close inquiry into the practice 
of infanticide reveals a state of things truly heart-rending. 
Districts have been canvassed to gain, if possible, re- 
liable statistics, and facts collected to show that in some 
places one fifth of all the female children born are put 
to death by their parents. In some districts of a limited 
area the percentage is greater still, while in the more 
wealthy centres it is usually less. Of ten women selected 
at random, all but two were found to have destroyed at 
least one child, some acknowledging the guilt of several. 
The reason given for this horrible practice is, in most 
cases, extreme poverty. The excuse is that girls are 
expensive and marry out of the family, so that no after 
good can be expected of them : unless they are brought 
up respectably they will not make suitable marriages; 
or after they are partly grown up it will be necessary to 
sell them to those who will bring them up to lives of 



Work for Orphans and Outcasts, 309 

infamy. The girls alone are exposed to such cruel fates, 
the birth of a son being hailed as a blessing for which 
the gods should be thanked. The special value of a son 
is connected with ancestral worship, which requires male 
descendants to perform the rites of worship and bring 
peace to their spirits after they are gone ; and those who 
destroy their daughters on the ground of expense, will 
sometimes, in the failure of sons, adopt an orphan boy 
as their heir. 

In Canton this practice prevails largely among the 
boat-people, and among the people of San-ning, where 
the scarcity of girls makes it difficult, among the poorer 
people, to secure wives for their sons, the young men 
from California and Australia, with their well-filled purses, 
carrying off most of those available. It is common, 
too, among the people of San-hing, where an old man, 
in the presence of a company of neighbors, told me that 
he had killed seven infant daughters in succession. As 
this confession of sevenfold murder excited no remark 
among the listeners, the inference drawn was that the 
practice was not in the least unusual. In the city it is 
comparatively rare, but fails to excite much horror, or 
censure even. 

Many who do not destroy their children outright, do 
so in a modified form, by sending them to the native 
foundling houses. Such institutions arc found in many 
cities in the interior, but the largest in the province is 
in the eastern suburbs of Canton: It is one of the 
so-called benevolent institutions of the city, and is 
supported by the Government, the funds being admin- 
istered in the usual Chinese way, only a small proper- 



3IO The Cross and the Dragon. 

tion reaching the end for which they are ostensibly 
given. It is open for the reception of outcast children 
from all districts ; and the little hapless girls, whom no 
mother's heart opens to receive, are sent to this cheer- 
less asylum. Some have natural shame enough to take 
them there under the cover of darkness ; others carry 
them boldly in broad daylight. Some place them in the 
streets, where the watchman or early huckster finds 
them and sends them to this common receptacle. By 
the passage boats they are brought in from the interior, 
often making an aggregate of from fifteen hundred to 
two thousand every year. When received they are 
assigned to the care of nurses, one woman having the 
care of three or four ; ill-clothed, half-fed, unwashed, the 
prey of flies and vermin, their condition is most pitiable. 
They are kept in this place for six months, during 
which time one half of them die from exposure and 
general want of care. Those who survive are disposed 
of to any one who will take them, for twenty cents each 
and a present to the nurse. Reliable statistics show that 
of those who survive, four fifths go into the hands of a 
class of women known among the Chinese as " devil 
grannies," whose sole business is to buy and bring up 
girls for immoral purposes. Scores of these diabolical 
agents haunt the streets and boats, plying their infa- 
mous trade. Into boats on the river or houses in the 
city they receive the little innocents, who become the 
property of their captors and have no will in anything 
that is done. In after years they are seen, painted and 
bedizened, in the gay boats on the river, or grouped 
behind barricades in the crowded houses of certain 



Work for Orphans and Outcasts, 311 

streets ; and pity for them in their wretchedness and 
degradation is deepened by the knowledge that it was 
never in their power to avoid or escape their awful 
fate. 

The remaining one fifth become slaves in families, 
and lead a life of hardship and drudgery. Some enter 
the families of the poor, and are brought up as wives for 
their sons; when little more than infants themselves 
they are made to carry and care for their master's chil- 
dren, and seldom know what rest or comfort is. They 
are liable at any time to change hands and to fall into 
the clutches of the harpies ever watching for victims. 

Infancy is not the only period of danger to poor 
young girls in Canton. They are always looked upon 
as available property when money is required; and 
bright little maidens of four or five, and often of ten 
or twelve, are sold to pay their father's gambling debts, 
or opium bills, or to procure medicine in case of sick- 
ness. A constant traffic in young girls is going on. 
Agents are sent through the country, who with satanic 
shrewdness gather their victims to recruit the ranks 
of vice. The heart grows sick in the contemplation 
of this barbarous system that preys on the young and 
helpless, and yearns to snatch a few of them, at least, 
from the hideous fate that lies before them. Burdened 
with the thought of their present misery and the black 
future before them, Mrs. Henry determined to do some- 
thing for the relief of some at least. By the aid of 
friends, she was able to found the little orphanage, 
which, it is hoped, will grow into something of a magni- 
tude more in proportion to the demand for help. Of 



312 The Cross and the Dragon, 

eleven children received from time to time, four have 
died, and seven are under the care of the Mission, which 
has now adopted the work. The personal history of 
these little waifs will give some insight into phases 
of life not often exposed to view. 

May-Yan, whose name means " Beautiful Grace," 
came to us in a remarkable way. Her father died 
three months before she was born, and her mother 
came to live in a small hovel near the mission chapel 
in the city of San-ui. Popular superstition regards it 
as unlucky to have a strange child born in the neigh- 
borhood, so that the mother was driven from the 
shelter of her little hut to the hills outside the town ; 
and there, with no protection against the weather, in 
the midst of a pouring rain, little A-May made her 
entrance into the world. The mother was wretchedly 
poor, with three other children to support; and this 
little waif was in the act of passing into the hands of 
the "■ devil grannies " when the native preacher stepped 
in, rescued the child, and brought her to us. She has 
grown to be a bright and beautiful lass, is doing well in 
school, and is in every way a credit to the band who 
support her. 

Oi-Keet, '' Loving Purity," when six years old, was 
pawned by her father to obtain money for medicine in 
a serious illness that befell him, with the full expecta- 
tion that when he recovered she would be redeemed. 
His illness proved fatal ; and Ah-Oi was demanded by 
the usurer, who was only an agent for baser people. 
Her mother, in great distress, told the Bible-woman her 
grief, and bringing all the papers to us, asked us to 



Work for Orphans and Outcasts 3 1 3 

interfere. We paid the debt and redeemed the child ; 
and she is now well advanced in her studies, an attrac- 
tive girl, standing high in the favor of her teacher. 

Lock-tuck, " Delighting in Virtue," was mortgaged 
before she was born to pay the debt incurred by her 
father at his marriage. He died before he had saved 
money enough to redeem her, and the heartless creditor 
demanded the child. The papers were brought to us, 
as before, and the debt paid. She is yet too small to 
attend school, but is a plump, play-loving lassie, just 
learning to sing. 

Tsoy-Shang, " Restored to Life," is the daughter of 
a Christian. Her mother died soon after her birth ; and 
her father, a soulless opium sot, was sending the little 
thing to the native foundling house, when we claimed 
the right to interfere, and adopted the helpless orphan. 
For a long time her life was despaired of; but under 
careful treatment she survived, and is now the picture 
of health. Her name, suggested by the native elder, 
perpetuates the memory of her escape from death. 

The story of the others is very similar, each one hav- 
ing been intercepted on her way to a most dismal fate. 
They are under careful training and instruction, and 
will all, we hope, become earnest Christian women. 
There is practically no limit to such a work, the near 
and final results of which cannot but prove unalloyed 
blessing, both to the benefactors and the objects of 
their care. The sympathetic responses which have 
come to our requests for aid encourage the hope that 
these weak and innocent victims of cruelty, supersti- 
tion, and vice, consigned every year to so black and so 



Work for Orphans and Outcasts. 315 

dismal a fate, may be rescued in larger numbers. Our 
little work in Canton seems very small beside the insti- 
tution in Hong-Kong, under the care of the Berlin 
Society. Through that agency hundreds of children 
have been rescued, and trained in Christian knowledge, 
habits of industry, and domestic thrift. From eighty 
to one hundred girls find a home there continually 
under the kind superintendence of benevolent German 
ladies, who supply them with all the means for per- 
sonal improvement and comfort, superintending their 
marriage, and protecting them from mercenary and un- 
worthy men. Picked up as outcasts in different parts 
of the country, these little waifs are taken first to the 
nearest mission station and afterwards to the home in 
Hong-Kong. Hereditary tendencies to evil have in some 
cases given trouble, but in general they have proved 
susceptible of kindness and fully rewarded the care 
bestowed on them. In this institution many of the 
native preachers have found amiable and educated 
wives, true help-mates in their labors; and Christian 
young men, assistants, medical students, and others are 
constantly asking for letters of introduction to the 
principals in the hope of finding accomplished brides. 
Each is given an opportunity of seeing the other, and 
only after mutual satisfaction is an engagement formed. 
The tenacity with which old customs survive is shown 
in the experience of a young man who was sent by his 
mission to Germany, and after a thorough education 
there, returned to engage in the work of an evangelist. 
His heart was moved to ask the hand of one of the 
almond-eyed beauties in this school; and proceeding 



3i6 The Cross and the Dragon. 

on the European plan, against the advice of his friends, 
proposed in person, and was rebuffed. The damsel, 
shocked at such a breach of propriety, would not enter- 
tain his suit, and when approached by the lady super- 
intendent in the usual way, declared her disgust at his 
conduct, and refused to have anything to do with him; 
so that he had to console himself with one less to his 
taste, and conduct his suit with due regard for the rules 
of propriety. How beautiful and grand is this result of 
Christian benevolence, which makes these girls whom 
their own parents had cast out to die, and who, if they 
had survived, would, under the working of native benevo- 
lence, be found in the very lowest grade of the moral 
strata, the wives of the best and most respected in the 
church ! The expense of such work is small compared 
with that of similar institutions in other lands, the an- 
nual expenditure for each child, including food, clothing, 
and attendance, being from twenty-five to thirty dollars. 
The results attained are, in brief: the parents saved from 
the guilt of a hideous crime ; the children rescued from 
a hfe of misery and shame; a corps of teachers, Bible- 
readers, and educated Christian mothers raised up to 
be the means of spreading knowledge that will render 
such things impossible. It is simple humanity to help 
them, the purest form of benevolence, and one of the 
most legitimate and promising forms of mission work. 

The blind form a large element in the population of 
Canton, for whom nothing has yet been done in a syste- 
matic way. An asylum, supported by the Government, 
affords them a bare shelter, but the allowance for food is 
too meagre to sustain them ; so that they are compelled 



Work for Orphans and Outcasts. 3 1 7 

to resort to begging, and go through the streets in droves, 
each holding on to the other. They emphasize their 
demands for cash by the most doleful cries and the 
dreariest noises made by gongs and other instruments. 
Their forlorn condition and their association together 
render them easy of access. In the North books 
printed in raised type have been prepared, but nothing 
of the sort has been done in Canton, nor has any regu- 
lar work been opened among them. The custom of 
deforming children and making them bhnd, to excite 
pity and secure alms, is more or less practised. Every 
day blind children placed in tubs are encountered along 
the streets, with written appeals for help fastened to 
them. Efforts to save them from so miserable and 
debasing a life have proved ineffectual, and revealed 
the fact that they were the property of some one who 
kept a watchful eye upon the apparently deserted child, 
and carefully counted the receipts at the close of each 
day. 

The Home for Old Men and a similar one for old 
women are also government institutions, to which yearly 
grants are made that will allow a certain number to 
obtain shelter and a small pittance for food, scarcely 
sufficient for a bare existence. These old people, mostly 
childless, homeless widows and widowers, are a strange 
commentary on the boasted respect and care for the 
aged which Chinese moralists parade. The religion 
and morality of the people are both alike selfish, and 
are confined to what is likely to prove of some personal 
advantage. These old people are always pleased by 
a visit from the missionary; and among the women 



o 



1 8 The Cross and the Dragon. 



much good has been done by the Baptist ladies, 
through whom many have received comfort in the 
midst of desolation, and their closing days been made 
bright by the hope of peace beyond the grave. 

A beginning has been made in work for the lepers, 
and ten or twelve professing Christians are found among 
them. Near every large town there is a leper settle- 
ment, most frequently along the river or canal, where, 
in straw huts or in little boats, these poor outcasts con- 
trive to pass a cheerless existence. They depend en- 
tirely upon charity, and are often compelled to steal 
in order to live. Near Canton there is a large village 
set apart for their use, in which comfortable quarters 
are provided. Admission to this settlement is only 
gained by paying a fee of from seven to ten dollars. 
Those who have friends to help them can live in com- 
parative comfort, and within the enclosure of this vil- 
lage are found a number of persons whom the people 
consider wealthy. Most of these unfortunates are cast 
off by their friends, and maintain themselves by begging 
through the streets, their loathsome appearance causing 
their demands to be met with a more speedy response. 
As said before, the disease is incurable but not neces- 
sarily contagious ; hucksters and pedlers go and come 
continually in this leper village without harm. Belief 
in its contagion and the fear of social ostracism has 
hitherto prevented direct missionary work among them. 
One man, however, has been found who is not afraid 
to touch them, and through him a work has been com- 
menced. In a small boat in front of an interior city, 
a leper was found with a Bible, and inquiry showed 



Work for Orphans and Outcasts, 3 1 9 

him to be an intelligent Christian ; he was sent at once 
to a settlement in a neighboring district and paid as 
a colporteur. In a short time several converts were 
made; but united in a community with others, they 
were sorely persecuted for keeping the Sabbath and 
refusing to steal, and the work received a temporary 
check. Another man, in whom the disease showed it- 
self first after his baptism, is supported by his friends, 
and will probably be transferred to the village near 
Canton, where much good may be hoped from his 
labors. 

In Swatow special efforts have been made to give 
them medical assistance, and rich results obtained in 
religious things. One of them, returning to his home 
in the interior, where no living voice had ever preached 
the truth, carried the knowledge of the truth he had 
learned to his native villagers. Curiosity at first led 
the people to listen to the leper's account of his travels; 
but the truth had power, and his words fell into hearts 
prepared to receive them, so that in a short time more 
than a score of converts were made ; and when the mis- 
sionary came he found twenty-three waiting for baptism, 
and rejoicing in the hope of eternal life received through 
the instrumentality of a despised leper. Healed in spirit, 
he returned not only to give thanks to God, but to tell 
his countrymen what great things God had done for 
him. 

There is a peculiar obligation laid upon the Church 
to remember the poor and the wretched ; and there is 
something in these outcast communities that appeals 
with special power to the heart where Jesus dwells. 



320 The Cross and the Dragon. 

Gradually the hand of sympathy and help is reaching 
them ; and many a Lazarus, or a Bartimaeus, or a Simon, 
in Canton is rejoicing in sight and healing of the soul. 
To helpless, outcast infancy and forsaken age, to the 
blind and the diseased, the pure and undefiled religion 
of Him who '' Himself took our infirmities and bare our 
sicknesses," is coming with succor and relief. 



Native Agents. 321 



CHAPTER XVII. 

NATIVE AGENTS. 

THE work begun by the missionary is carried for- 
ward and widened in its extent and application 
by native agents. Brought to a knowledge of the truth 
under their instruction, trained up and introduced by 
them to their work, their spirit and devotion are often 
a counterpart of those of the missionaries with whom 
they have been associated. Several grades of assistants 
are employed, with special duties suited to their capacity 
and energy. 

In the forefront of this important body of workers, 
stand the native ordained pastors. Inducted into this 
office under the various forms of church polity, ordained 
by Bishop, Conference, or Presbytery, they stand at the 
head of the native church, over which they exert a 
powerful influence. The practice of the various mis- 
sions has not been uniform in the matter of ordaining 
men; some have taken the step much earlier in their 
course than others, while the standard of qualification 
has not always been the same. Great wisdom and care, 
however, have been exercised in admitting candidates 
for this high office. The general requisites insisted 
upon arc devoted piety, clear knowledge of the system 
of Christian truth, aptness to teach, and practical proof 
of entire consecration to the work. 

21 



322 The Cross and the Dragon. 

The churches springing up all over the land demand 
the care of men of their own race. In purely pastoral 
work, the missionary finds himself hampered at every 
step. The Chinese character is a mystery that but few, 
if any, have been able to read ; their moral perceptions, 
their conscience, their apparent motives and actual in- 
tentions, their general stock of ideas, their views of life 
and duty, are all different from those of other people, 
and only a native can understand them thoroughly and 
know how to proceed. In their families, the intricate 
rules of propriety, the entire separation of the sexes, 
the want of sympathy and cordiality between those 
united by natural ties, make it difficult to penetrate the 
inner circle of their lives and know them as their 
spiritual guides should. In seven years of direct pas- 
toral work I was brought into closest contact with the 
people. Anxious to win their confidence, and benefit 
them in every way, I held myself open to calls of every 
kind in the line of my work, and made the humblest of 
them feel free to approach me on any subject. Often 
put to great inconvenience by their untimely hours, their 
winding tales, and prolix narratives of troubles and im- 
possible requests, the door of the pastor's study was 
never closed against any who came, the force of Pay- 
son's words, "The man who wants me is the man I 
want," being continually felt. While assured of their 
confidence, I constantly felt the presence of a barrier 
obstructing the way to full freedom and interchange of 
thought, and in important cases had always to rely upon 
the help of the elders to learn the true state of affairs. 
The welfare of the native church demands pastors from 



Native Agents, 323 



their own people, and great advancement has recently- 
been made in supplying their wants in this respect. 

The Presbyterian Mission was the last to take this 
important step. Seven churches had been gathered 
before a native pastor was ordained. A year ago, the 
exigencies of the work seemed to demand such an addi- 
tion to the corps of ministers, and three long tested as 
evangelists were set apart, two of whom received calls 
immediately. Of these Kwan-Loy was called to the 
pastorate of the Second Church in Canton, and is 
proving himself faithful and efficient in the important 
work committed to him. His history has something of 
the romantic about it. After receiving a good educa- 
tion in his home and acquiring a fair knowledge of 
business, for which he showed a good capacity, he went 
to California in search of gold, and in his wanderings 
visited most of the Pacific States. Providentially led 
to the mission school in Sacramento, he began the study 
of the Bible, to which he brought a keen and logical 
mind, that could compare its truth with the teachings 
of Confucius, whom he had hitherto owned as master. 
He became not only intellectually convinced, but opened 
his heart to receive the Word of Life. His transforma- 
tion was complete : the search for gold was abandoned ; 
and with the pearl of great price in his possession, his 
chief desire was to return to his native place and proclaim 
the Gospel to his own people. Reading with avidity all 
the books that came in his way, he was soon prepared 
for evangelistic work. On his return to Canton he con- 
tinued his studies, preaching constantly in the mean 
time, until the way was open for him to begin work in 



324 The Cross and the Dragon. 

his native town. The time he had longed for having 
come, he went joyfully to the place of his birth, the town 
of Kau-Kong, the most populous centre of trade in the 
silk district. A preaching-room was opened, and for 
six weeks was filled with interested audiences; but at 
the end of that time a fierce opposition arose. Pla- 
cards were posted, denouncing him as a renegade, and 
the people warned against him. He was menaced by 
threats of violence, and a reward of five hundred dollars 
publicly offered for his head ; but he continued to preach 
the Gospel fearlessly in the face of it all, and no doubt 
to many who were concerned in offering the reward. 
Their violence culminated in a mob of sixteen men, 
hired by the gentry at fifty cents each, who entered the 
chapel and demolished its contents, strewing the floor 
with books, medicines, and furniture in a broken and 
confused mass. Escaping with his companion, he fled 
to the city. An appeal to the magistrate secured the 
restitution of the property destroyed, and permission to 
reopen the chapel. In no way deterred by past experi- 
ence, Kwan-Loy and his medical assistant declared their 
readiness to return. Having repaired the damages, a 
day was fixed, with the consent of the magistrate, for 
publicly resuming the work of preaching and healing; 
but scarcely had the doors been opened, when a furious 
and blood-thirsty mob, encouraged by those in au- 
thority, assaulted the place, crying for the lives of the 
Christians. They escaped through the roof, and under 
the friendly protection of people from other towns, in 
business there, reached the city in safety. Dishonored 
by his kinsmen, Kwan-Loy gave himself up to earnest 



Native Agents. 325 



work elsewhere; opened the station in the distant city 
of Lien-chow, and as elder, teacher, and preacher, has 
labored with indefatigable zeal for his countrymen. Re- 
peated and urgent calls have come from California and 
the Sandwich Islands ; but his letters in reply to these 
requests, depicting the great needs of Canton, show that 
pure love for the souls of men has led him to decline the 
easier, pleasanter, and more lucrative positions offered. 
He is small in stature, rapid in his utterance, and clear 
in his exposition. His style of preaching is not so strik- 
ing as that of some others; but shows a remarkable 
knowledge of the Scriptures, forcible logic, and a won- 
derful power of illustration. In a sermon on the pas- 
sage, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth 
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light 
of life," a beauty of diction, an aptness of illustration, 
and a clearness of exposition were shown that would de- 
light and instruct any audience. Gems of thought and 
delicate turns of expression gave a freshness and charm 
to the discourse. The birds rejoicing in the sunlight as 
they left their nightly coverts in the dark valleys, and 
rose on joyous pinions to greet the rising sun, carolling 
their thanks and praise for his light and beneficence, 
were made the emblems of enlightened Christians rising 
from the dark vales of superstition and ignorance, into 
the light and joy of true life and spiritual knowledge. 
The power of the light to sweeten, vivify, and beautify the 
world was dwelt upon, and the whole discourse given a 
practical turn, that could not fail to impress the people. 
Under his pastorate the church is prospering, accessions 
to the membership being constantly received. 



326 The Cross and the Dragon. 

Most numerous among the native agents are the 
evangehsts, or the unordained assistant preachers, who 
number ninety-seven. Among them all degrees of talent 
and efficiency are shown. Their primary work is preach- 
ing in the city and country. Many are permanently 
placed in one locality, while others go from district to 
district. In their stated sermons at the preaching-halls, 
many of them display remarkable tact and facility in 
addressing the people. Their perfect acquaintance with 
the common sayings and folk-lore of the masses, with 
their motives and desires in the worship of idols, and 
with their daily thoughts and feelings, enables them 
oftentimes to bring the truth with striking power before 
the people. Their skill in the treatment of popular 
superstitions is sometimes astonishing ; their weak points 
are seized with strategic skill and, by the judicious use 
of ridicule and satire, mercilessly exposed. Kwan- 
Kung, the god of war, is a favorite subject for dissection. 
Possessing themselves of the facts in his history, as given 
in the popular historical novel, " The Records of the 
Three Kingdoms," they skilfully undermine the faith of 
the people in this deified hero, and show him to have 
been nothing but a military chieftain, by no means per- 
fect in wisdom or character. 

Some of the assistants fall into ruts, and content them- 
selves with mere routine work. At the appointed time 
they don their sky-blue scholar's robe, adjust their gog- 
gles, and, fan in hand, with the affected, swinging gait 
of the literati, ascend the platform, and discourse, not 
without power at times ; and when the allotted task 
is fulfilled, retire to their rooms, feeling that their day's 



Native Agents. 327 



work is done. Such men may be good Christians, and 
under the circumstances are better than nothing, but 
are very disappointing as agents in aggressive work. 
The men we need, and have secured in Hmited numbers, 
are those filled with fire and zeal; who will not only 
preach, but follow up their words by personal influence, 
searching for men if they do not come, endeavoring 
to get hold of them by direct personal appeals. Their 
modes and manners, as seen in practical work, are not 
only interesting, but often entertaining. One with no 
originality will go through a chapter, a book, or perhaps 
the whole Bible, in regular course ; and to an entirely 
new audience preface his discourse by the remark that 
" yesterday, or last week, we reached the second chapter 
of Galatians and the third verse, and to-day we begin 
at the fourth verse ;" and proceed with an exposition of 
the passage utterly unintelligible and bewildering to the 
audience, who have never heard of the Galatians or of 
the Bible itself Others in the very first sentence uttered 
command the instant and intelligent attention of all, and 
carry them irresistibly with them in the current of their 
discourse. 

Mak-Shui is a good example of a Chinese orator. 
Tall, nervous, intensely colloquial, he throws himself 
without reserve into his discourse, gestures, facial ex- 
pression, and tones of voice all combining to emphasize 
his utterances. His manner is fascinating, his matter 
pointed and practical, and with an inexhaustible fund of 
humor and anecdote, he is immensely popular. People 
who do not understand Chinese have come to watch him, 
fascinated by his manner and gestures, which speak as 



328 The Cross and the Dragon, 

well as his words. One of his best efforts was in apply- 
ing the lessons taught by the healing of the paralytic. 
The moral paralysis of the Chinese was depicted : they 
were shown to be destitute of the power of good action ; 
with evil desires and sinful propensities increased and 
strengthened each day, they were as men in a dream or 
in the confusion of drunkenness, who act without knowl- 
edge; severed from the source of their being, they had 
lost the true aim "of existence, and given over to the 
control of their own misguided desires, they worked 
only confusion continually; bound by the superstitious 
customs of the age, wounded in soul by prevailing errors, 
trusting in the choice of lucky days, fortune-telling, 
sorcery, divination, and other practices, not only useless 
but injurious. This was shown in the custom when a 
father dies : instead of proceeding as common-sense 
would dictate, a man must '' turn the wheel," and choose 
a lucky day for burial, — 

"The body waiting for the shroud, 
And filial faith for empty word." 

When a husband dies unhappy delays occur; and though 
the fragrance of cloves and anise fills the room, yet, 
as the days pass by, the house and the whole street be- 
come offensive. Still no one dares to remonstrate, lest 
occult influences exert a malign effect. Their paralysis 
is further shown as they consult the stars in arranging 
for marriages, and make their engagements according to 
the indication given by the eight characters pertaining 
to the hour of one's birth. In this way, a beautiful and 
virtuous girl may be matched with an ugly and profligate 



Native Agents, 329 



man, without the power of resisting her fate; or a suit- 
able match be refused because the horoscopes do not 
combine in a fortunate way. It is also shown when 
they wish to build a house : they are in bondage to the 
geomancer, who must examine the site and locate the 
buildings, determine the direction of the watercourses, 
and the entrance or exit of lucky or sinister influences ; 
the magician or the Taoist priest must purify and tran- 
quillize the place before they can enter it, lest evil spirits 
come and go, keeping them in constant terror. Their 
power to move of their own free will is lost in the bond- 
age to a slavish superstition. Before making a journey 
to a distant place, the idol must be consulted or a blind 
fortune-teller called in to give counsel, when it becomes 
a veritable case of the blind leading the blind. In num- 
berless other things — such as the naming of a child, 
the time when his head should be shaved, and other 
equally common things — their bondage to superstition 
has paralyzed their minds. Following this line with 
words most aptly fitted to arrest and hold their attention, 
the folly of their prevailing practices was exposed, and 
an impassioned appeal made to accept the help of Jesus 
to heal their moral paralysis. 

In depth of thought and power of expression, few 
could equal Ch'an-Mung-nam, now dead. An accom- 
plished scholar, his writings have commanded general 
approbation, and several books from his pen are in 
constant circulation. Never shall I forget his sermon 
on the words, " In all these things we are more than 
conquerors through Him that loved us," preached at 
a large union meeting of the Christians. Under the 



330 The Cross and the Dragon. 

inspiration of a fruitful theme and an appreciative 
audience, he dehvered a discourse of which any man 
might be proud. In the opening passages various scenes 
of national and military triumph were portrayed ; the 
trials of the Christian and the pecuHar difficulties met 
with in China were dwelt upon, and the victory which 
each can achieve most vividly shown ; while the triumphs 
of the Cross in the past, the progress of Christianity 
from century to century, the absolute certainty of the 
spread of the Gospel and its final prevalence over all, 
were given in a most powerful manner. 

In Au-Fung-chi we have a man of great and varied 
talent. He excels as a preacher, and is admired for his 
polished style, for his fluency of speech, and his attrac- 
tive delivery. He brings the fruits of rich and varied 
learning to adorn and enforce his addresses, and, in 
addition to these popular gifts, possesses great skill in ex- 
egesis, rendering valuable assistance in the work of trans- 
lation. His sympathy is not confined to his particular 
church, but makes him the confidential friend of all. 

Wong Shing is a man of fine presence, dignified in 
his bearing, bold and energetic in his addresses, seizing 
with great readiness and using with force passing inci- 
dents. His talents are of a high order ; he is at home 
with the scholar, the merchant, or the peasant. Whether 
in preaching to the heathen, or doing the work of a 
catechist in instructing inquirers, or in his more elabo- 
rate addresses before the native church, his exercises 
are marked by clearness of thought and expression, 
a force and dignity of manner, that make him a model 
for the younger men. 



Native Agents. 331 



Lau-Wy-chiu is a type of the rough and ready kind. 
Converted late in life, he entered the work without much 
previous training, and lacks the polish of men more 
highly educated, but is possessed of much natural elo- 
quence. His forte is in assailing current superstitions, 
which he does with ungloved hands, and a rush of 
graphic satire that takes his audience by storm. It is 
a treat to hear him call over their objects of worship, 
touching briefly on each, and winding up with the query, 
" And where is the image of the cat, so clever and so 
useful? Why has it been slighted and no place found 
for it among your objects of worship?" The story of 
the Prodigal Son assumes a novel shape in his hands, 
but becomes of intensest practical interest to his hearers. 
Some of these preachers are content with endless rep- 
etitions of the same thoughts and illustrations in the 
same language, which, as their audiences are perpetually 
changing, are not so fruitless as they otherwise would 
be. One man always presents the Gospel under the 
figure of a beggar asking alms, when, instead of the 
mere pittance expected, the benevolent man at whose 
door he knocks, brings out a bowl of savory broth filled 
with tid-bits and dainties that would tempt the appetite 
of an epicure. The beggar, sceptical of such generosity, 
suspects a snare ; the dish, he thinks, may contain poi- 
son; and though its fragrant odors intensify the pangs of 
hunger, he rejects it, while another just arriving accepts 
the rich bounty. This figure, elaborated in fullest detail, 
and garnished with many gastronomic appendages, will 
occupy half of his discourse. 

Among the younger men many bright and faithful 



332 The Cross and the Dragon. 

ones are found. Uen-Nga-kok, in Shek-lung, has dis- 
played a peculiar talent in instructing the members there, 
who are mostly from the laboring classes, and by a nightly 
meeting for Bible study has brought them to a high 
position in knowledge of the Scriptures. His fidelity was 
strikingly shown at the time of the recent mob that de- 
stroyed the chapel there. His home was in the chapel ; 
and all his furniture, clothing, books, and other property 
were destroyed or stolen, and he the object of special 
hostility. With no place to go to, and his life in danger, 
I expected him to accompany us to Canton, but gave 
him no hint as to what was best to do, wishing the deci- 
sion to come from him. When he had seen his wounded 
companions safely in our boat, he said, apparently with- 
out thought of any other course, that he must return to 
the town and comfort the Christians, who would be scat- 
tered and exposed to great fear and danger. He is a 
handsome, graceful youth of twenty-three ; and I looked 
with admiration on him, as he went back to the town, 
still raging with the excitement of the mob, never think- 
ing of himself, but only anxious for the little flock, scat- 
tered and terrified by the wolves of fury and violence. 
He rested not until he had found them all, and was 
assured of their safety and comfort. Modest and unas- 
suming, his influence over that little church is great; and 
though younger than almost any of them, they look up 
to him as their guide. 

Ho-Kwei-tak is one of the youngest in the work, and 
gives unusual promise of power as a preacher and of 
great usefulness. Trained from early years in the mis- 
sion schools, he is more thoroughly Christian in all his 



Native Agents. '^y-^^'x, 



thoughts and feehngs than many, and is whole-souled 
in his consecration. Gentle, deferential, and accommo- 
dating, he is a prime favorite with the older members of 
the church. Stationed at an important centre of work 
in the country, he has travelled and preached through all 
the surrounding villages, and won general favor by his 
pleasing manner and zealous efforts. Over his table I 
found these words written : " Keep constant guard over 
your words, and be patient in all things." Faithful in 
every duty, he thoroughly masters the studies laid down 
in the yearly courses, and astonishes the Mission by his 
perfect examinations. 

As a whole, these native evangelists are a faithful, 
hard-working body of men, imbued with the true spirit 
of devotion, which cries, " Woe is me if I preach not the 
Gospel ! " Regardless of fatigue or discomfort, they 
penetrate the country in all directions, travelling some- 
times fourteen or fifteen miles before breakfast, and 
preaching five or six hours in the day. The salaries 
they receive do not encourage a mercenary spirit, the 
amount varying from five to ten, and in very excep- 
tional cases fifteen dollars, a month. On this they feed 
and clothe themselves, and, if need be, support a family. 
They are often stationed at distant points in the interior, 
isolated from friends and Christian society, and must not 
only be the oracle of truth for the whole country, but 
bear the brunt of the reproach and opposition that are 
almost sure to come; and the more aggressive they 
become, the stronger the tide of opposition ; so that the 
temptation to settle down into a dull routine of formal 
work is very great, and is almost sure to overcome them. 



334 ^^^^ Cross and the Dragon, 

if they have not the stimulus of deep love for men, and 
a faith that lifts them up. Their wives are not always 
Christians, and the habit of making the ancestral village 
the home for the families of all the sons, often prevents 
them from having those nearest to them with them. 
They are often harassed by family troubles, directly or 
indirectly connected with the position they hold, but 
through all the difficulties that arise they display great 
wisdom, forbearance, and zeal. 

The colporteurs are usually men of limited education, 
whose chief duty Hes in the sale and distribution of 
books, and among them are some of the noblest speci- 
mens of Christian manhood. They traverse the coun- 
try at all seasons with books ; they canvass the large 
towns systematically, passing through street after street 
and offering the written Word at the door of every shop 
and residence. They visit remote villages, where they 
gather the peasants in the evening by the side of the 
pond or under the trees, and explain to them the mes- 
sage brought. They attend the market centres on fair 
days, and through their agency tens of thousands of 
Bibles and tracts are every year disseminated through 
the land, — leaves from the tree of life, that bring healing 
to the nations. They are the pioneers and prospectors, 
the forerunners of the more permanent preacher. They 
observe the character and disposition of the people in 
different places, and through them chapels are often 
secured in promising centres. In the absence of trained 
assistants they often do the work of evangelists at the 
more remote stations, with most cheering results. The 
shafts of persecution are often aimed at them with 



Native Agents. 335 



special force, as the precursors of the school, the church, 
and the missionary. The first Protestant Christian mar- 
tyr was of this devoted band, of whom the following 



" In the city of Pok-lo, on the Canton East River, a Confu- 
cian temple-keeper received the Scriptures from a colporteur 
of the London Mission, became convinced of the folly of idol- 
atry, and was baptized by Dr. Legge. He gave up his calling, 
and set to work among his acquaintances and friends as a self- 
appointed Scripture-reader. He would go through the streets 
of the city and the country round with a board on his back 
containing some text of Scripture. So successful was he that 
in three years' time about one hundred of the people were 
baptized ; and so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed 
that surprise and hostility were excited, and a fierce persecution 
broke out. The Christians were driven from their villages, and 
their property was plundered. The colporteur was seized, 
and twice within forty-eight hours dragged before the literati and 
called upon to recant. This he steadfastly refused to do. He 
was therefore tortured, by being suspended by the arms during 
the night. The next morning he was brought forward in an 
enfeebled state, pale and trembling, for a second trial. The 
officials and mandarins were cowed into submission by the gen- 
try ; but this brave old man was still firm in his resolve to cleave 
to the Bible and Christ, and expressed a hope that his judges 
would some day embrace the new doctrine. This was more 
than they could tolerate ; and, like the judges of Stephen, they 
ran upon him with one accord, and killed him on the spot by 
repeated blows of their side-arms, and threw him into the river. 
Thus perished the first Protestant Christian martyr in China." 

The teachers employed in the numerous schools are 
as a rule professing Christians. Some of them are 
young men from the training-schools, who, feeling no 



33^ The Cross and the Dragon. 

calling to preach, have taken up school work instead ; 
but most of them come directly from the educated 
classes of the people. The army of school-teachers 
in China is an immense one, and the moment one of 
them becomes a Christian his employment is gone. 
Whether in schools or in private families where instruc- 
tion is given, the tablet to Confucius forms a necessary 
part of the school apparatus, teachers and pupils being 
required to pay daily worship to the sage ; and no mat- 
ter how high their reputation has previously been, the 
absence of this tablet loses them the support of former 
patrons, and shuts out all hope of new pupils. The 
gods of the ground must also be worshipped, to protect 
the children from disease and other evils. Moreover, the 
village school-teacher is the general scribe for the com- 
munity, and is expected to write the good-luck papers 
and inscriptions for idol shrines. This the Christian 
teacher cannot do, and so is no longer employed. Mis- 
sion schools being free, superstition yields to economy 
with many, and a good attendance results. Should 
sickness, however, break out, it would be attributed to 
the anger of the earth-god, who had not been propi- 
tiated ; and when the children suffer from some trifling 
malady while attending school, the parents will some- 
times send them with incense and gilt paper to appease 
the wrath of the earth-god. From this class of educated 
men thrown out of employment on account of their 
religion, teachers are engaged, many of whom prove 
efficient educators, and not a few in the end become 
evangelists. The importance of obtaining Christian 
teachers for all the schools is evident. Constant and 



Native Agents, 337 



close contact with the pupils, the respect and influence 
which his position secures him in the village or neigh- 
borhood, give the Christian teacher unusual means of 
doing good. 

Another class of teachers deserves mention : that is, 
those who instruct the missionary in the study of the 
language and afterwards become his assistants in literary 
work. The influence of these men is very great; and in 
the help they give in the translation and preparation of 
books, they touch many minds. The names of some 
of the more distinguished are connected inseparably 
with the work of certain missionaries. The names of 
Au, of Ch'an, of Ue, and of Kung cannot be forgotten by 
those who know the history of the colloquial Gospels, 
the Bible stories, and the numerous medical works issued 
at Canton. By wise suggestion, judicious correction, 
and the subtle influence of a good literary style, they 
add greatly to the value and popularity of a work. 

This little army of native agents is perpetually at 
work, undermining the old systems of error, leavening 
wide communities with the principles of Christian truth, 
re-wording, to a great extent, the instruction received 
from the missionary, and impressing it more distinctly 
on the minds of the people, and so preparing the way 
for the mighty triumphs of the Cross of Christ. 



22 



338 The Cross and the Dragon. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 

THE day has long gone by when the charge can be 
brought, with any degree of justice, against the 
native Christians, that they become such only for the 
pecuniary advantage gained. In the early days of 
mission work this was no doubt true in some cases ; but 
the circumstances then were very different from what 
they are now. Men were required in various employ- 
ments ; and designing persons, with some knowledge of 
the doctrines and smooth professions of acceptance, in 
spite of the caution observed, found their way into the 
church. The declarations of certain missionaries made 
thirty-five or forty years ago, that they could scarcely 
be sure of the conversion of a single convert, are still 
quoted as authority by those who are not informed of 
the progress since then. However true such statements 
may have been of the past, they are entirely false of the 
present. Not only has the deeper knowledge of Chinese 
character gained, and the increased means of testing the 
sincerity of each, provided against deception in most 
cases, but the numbers who come so far exceed the 
possibility of their receiving outward help, that such 
motives cannot be admitted. The great increase, too, is 
in the interior districts, far removed from the foreigner, 



The Native Christians, 339 

under the labor of native evangelists; so that simple 
justice requires that they be not judged by the selfish 
hypocrisy of a few designing ones of the past genera- 
tion, but by the evidence now presented of their sin- 
cerity and devotion. A comparison of statistics shows a 
most gratifying increase in recent years. The last seven 
show, as far as mere numbers go, an advance equal to 
that of the previous thirty-five years. These results are 
not on paper merely ; the evidences of true Hfe and vigor 
are manifested in many ways. The character of the 
four thousand four hundred Christians in the missions 
immediately connected with Canton will compare favora- 
bly with that of Christians in any land. When we con- 
sider the long ages of heathenism that are behind them, 
we cannot expect to see them leap at one bound into the 
front rank of intellectual and cultured Christianity, or to 
reproduce the refinement and domestic comfort of our 
Christian homes by instantaneous growth. Under the 
most favorable circumstances it will take generations to 
eradicate the old leaven of heathenism, and thoroughly 
Christianize their social customs and family life. 

The utmost care is observed in the instruction of in- 
quirers and the reception of members into the church. 
The examination of applicants for baptism reveals many 
strange phases of thought and belief. No uniform prac- 
tice is found satisfactory in testing their knowledge and 
sincerity; but in most cases months of instruction or 
probation are required before admitting them to full 
membership. Coming from all classes, of all grades 
of intelligence, and of infinite variety of disposition 
and habit, it is difficult to establish rules that will meet 



340 The Cross and the Dragon. 

the wants of all. In examining a score of applicants, 
a different method, it may be, is required for each. 
Among those who come there is the school-girl. She 
has perfectly learned the forms and formulas of worship, 
and can readily answer any question as to her knowl- 
edge of the Gospel. It then becomes important to test 
her experience of the truth ; and the heart knowledge 
which many of them show is astonishing. The next 
that appears, perhaps, will be a poor woman from the 
hospital. She is ignorant, and all her life has been a 
worshipper of the idols; but now her heart has turned 
to Jesus, and with a simple faith she clings to Him. 
She knows the idols are false, and declares her greatest 
crime against Heaven has been the worship of these 
graven images. The love of Jesus has been a wonderful 
revelation to her. She cannot comprehend the system 
of truth which the Gospel presents in all its important 
bearings ; but she knows Jesus loves her, died for her, 
and her heart is made glad by the assurance that He 
has pardoned her sins and will take her to heaven. 
Her creed is brief; and her reply to repeated questions 
is: "Jesus is my Saviour, He died for my soul ; I trust 
Him, pray to Him, and hope for salvation in Him." 
The one who follows, it may be, is a scholar. He has 
compared Christianity with Confucianism, and acknowl- 
edges its superiority. He admits himself to be a sinner, 
but is vague in his replies as to personal guilt. There 
is no question as to his intelligence, but in the matter 
of repentance and the practice of the Christian faith 
he shows little heart knowledge ; so that while the old 
woman, with but a tithe of his knowledge, is admitted, 



The Native Christians. 341 

he is placed on the hst of inquirers until evidences of 
the vital power of the truth in his heart are given. In 
this work of testing the sincerity of those who apply, 
the native elders, with their knowledge of the intricate 
workings of Chinese thought and motive, render the 
most valuable assistance. Great reliance, too, must be 
placed on the assistants by whom they are trained ; who 
know their history, and have been intrusted, it may be, 
with many secrets of their lives. The true attitude to be 
observed toward all who come, is not one of suspicion, 
that perceives selfishness and hypocrisy under the most 
honest exterior, and insists on years of trial before their 
confidence is vouchsafed, nor, on the other hand, a too 
great readiness to accept without question every profes- 
sion of belief; but a kind and discriminating spirit that 
inspires confidence in those who come, but looks care- 
fully for the marks of true discipleship before receiving 
them. The conviction of the paramount importance of 
keeping the Church pure from the beginning, has ever 
kept the standard of qualification for membership high; 
and while avoiding the two extremes of credulity and 
suspicion, the wisdom of most of the missionaries in 
Canton is attested by the character of the churches 
gathered. The charge of indiscriminate reception of 
all who come has driven some to undue severity in their 
judgment of inquirers, unnecessarily repelling those 
whose motives were not fully approved. A pathetic 
instance of this occurred nearly a score of years ago. 
A man in the northern part of the province heard the 
Gospel preached, and was forcibly impressed by the 
appeal to repent and be baptized ; he aftenvard received 



342 The Cross and the Dragon. 

a book in which this exhortation was repeated ; and so 
powerful was its effect that he left his business, and 
took passage to Canton. He made his way to the for- 
eign concession, and, entering one of the merchant 
houses, prostrated himself before the gentleman in the 
office, knocking his head on the floor, and asking for 
baptism. The merchant, not understanding his words, 
called in his compradore, who told him of the man's 
request, and they sent him to one of the missionaries. 
Ignorant of the distance to be travelled, he had not 
brought sufficient money, so that he appeared destitute. 
This awakened suspicion ; so that when he came to the 
missionary, the belief in his duplicity led him to dis- 
believe his story. He fell down at the feet of the mis- 
sionary and begged for baptism, until doubts of his 
sanity led to his being delivered into the charge of the 
magistrate for safe-keeping. After undergoing many 
hardships, he was sent back to his home. Years after- 
wards, a missionary visited a Buddhist monastery in a 
distant city, and there found the man, from whom he 
learned the history of his life. The treatment he had re- 
ceived in Canton drove him from the world into the little 
cloister, beyond whose doors he had never passed since 
entering. He conversed freely ; but all attempts to lead 
him to study the Gospel, and all the excuses made for 
the unjust treatment he had received, were of no avail. 
His reply was, that " no doubt it was very good, but 
experience had taught him to avoid it." Many of those 
received into the church in Canton are from the vil- 
lages in the interior. Their imperfect knowledge, and 
their isolated positions, as weak individuals singly ex- 



The Native Christians. 343 

posed to the current of superstition, have given much 
anxiety to their instructors ; but evidence has come re- 
peatedly to show that they have been faithful to their 
vows, and not only kept themselves pure from idola- 
try and prevailing error, but have sought to influence 
others to do the same. On one occasion we received 
with some misgivings a woman who was very urgent in 
her request for baptism. A few days afterwards she re- 
turned to her home in the western part of the province, 
promising to come out to the following communion. 
The time came, but she did not appear ; and we thought 
our doubts had been confirmed, and she had gone back 
to the world. Another three months passed, and she 
appeared with two other women, relatives, whom she 
had taught. A severe illness had prevented her coming 
when she promised, but she had never forgotten her 
Master; every day she worshipped Him, observing the 
Sabbath faithfully. She had induced these women to join 
with her in worship, and they, too, had become Chris- 
tians ; and after their day's toil in gathering firewood on 
the hills, — for they were very poor, — they would meet 
and pray to Jesus, and when the Sabbath came, would 
spend it in prayer and meditation. Another old peasant 
woman, who could not read a word, and who spoke 
such a strange dialect that but few even of the Chinese 
could understand her, attended our services, and, after 
a time, applied for baptism. Her reception was delayed 
to test her knowledge and sincerity, and she returned 
to her home eighty miles in the interior. After three 
months she came out, at her own expense, to renew her 
application, bringing with her a young nephew whom 



344 1^^^ Cross and the Dragon, 

she had taught. I never heard a clearer or more sat- 
isfactory examination than that of this young man be- 
fore the session of the church ; and all that he knew, 
he had learned from his old aunt, who was in truth taught 
by the spirit of God. They have both since died, after 
having lived faithful and consistent lives to the end. 

Among the religious characteristics of the native con- 
verts the lack of a vivid sense of sin has often been re- 
marked. They will at times pass through long seasons 
of doubt, in which the conflict of error with truth is 
severe, before they are brought to its full acceptance ; 
but the absence of any pungent conviction of their own 
personal sinfulness, considered almost indispensable to 
true conversion in Christian lands, is frequently a source 
of uneasiness to their instructors. The reason, however, 
seems evident: they have lived in ignorance, and sinned 
without knowledge; and although the fact of their trans- 
gression is clearly seen and recognized, and the punish- 
ment due for sin is well understood, and its justice 
acknowledged, yet their ignorance of God's love, of 
their duty to Him, and of the law they were breaking, 
prevents that keen sense of personal guilt we look for. 
They know now it was wrong, but cannot feel such a 
shame and horror of their conduct as those who sin 
against light and in the face of loving remonstrance. 
In Christian lands the knowledge of God's love and of 
our obligations to Him come with our earliest years ; so 
that every sin is against this love and against the knowl- 
edge of our duty, and when conviction comes it is 
deepened by a sense of ingratitude and shame for wilful 
disregard of Divine affection. With the Chinese it is 










■^^^ijill^^-^':"^:^"^ 



-,r'«l^. 




•i 




A GOOD-LUCK PAGODA. 



34^ The Ci'oss and the Dragon. 

different ; and the lack of such feeUngs in the first stages 
of their Christian Hfe is in many respects only natural. 
As a people they are not emotional, yet many moving 
scenes are witnessed. Some are overcome by their 
emotions as they tell their experiences in coming to 
Jesus : tears of contrition, tears of gratitude, tears of joy, 
are often mingled as the story of how Jesus found and 
saved them is told. As they advance in the Christian 
life, the emotional or, more properly, the experimental 
side of their religion is developed ; and in their prayers 
and exhortations a depth of love and tenderness will ap- 
pear which show that they have been deeply taught in 
the mystery of divine things. 

The simplicity of their faith is often strikingly shown. 
They believe without doubt ; the truth comes to them 
in a practical form, and is accepted without reserve. No 
speculative misgivings disturb the calm serenity of their 
trust. The Heavenly Father is a daily reality to them, 
and they refer to His presence and disposing power in 
the most trivial events of their lives. Their prayers are 
simple and direct, and are offered without the slightest 
doubt that God is interested in all the details of their 
affairs. They pray for food, for clothing, and other phy- 
sical blessings, as well as for spiritual gifts. They ask 
for strength to bear suffering and pain, for wisdom to 
direct them in business or travel, and take great com- 
fort in the thought that God is always with them. They 
accept adverse fortune, even to the loss of property and 
health, as the will of God, and yield to His all-wise 
direction. They believe in the disciplinary effects of 
suffering, and console each other with the assurance that 



The Native Christians, 



347 



all is for the best. Indeed, their belief in the overruling 
providence of God is carried to such an extreme some- 
times that the Almighty is made responsible for their 
own carelessness or neglect of duty. They accept 
proofs of Divine interference in a way that shows their 
unquestioning faith and freedom from all sophistical 
reasoning, so often the bane of more enlightened Chris- 
tians ; and certain striking occurrences carry great force 
to them which would excite nothing more than a pass- 
ing remark among others. For instance, a peasant who 
became a Christian was the owner of several head of 
cattle ; a plague broke out, and was destroying many 
cattle in his district. The neighbors taunted him with 
being a Christian, and urged him to worship the idols, 
saying if he did not he would lose his cattle in conse- 
quence ; but he trusted in a higher Power, and remained 
faithful to his Christian principles. The plague con- 
tinued : many of those who scorned him were lamenting 
their losses ; while he was safe in the possession of his 
property, no harm having come to one of his beasts. 
This event was widely remarked, and was accepted as a 
proof of the special favor of the Master to this disciple. 
In the same vicinity the child of a native preacher be- 
came ill. Its mother was not yet a Christian, and a 
neighbor came to urge her to go to the temple and pray 
for its recovery, declaring that the wrath of the evil 
spirits would destroy the child if she did not. She re- 
plied that her husband was a Christian, and would not 
permit such a thing. On his return, she related to him 
the conversation ; he procured medicine, prayed to God, 
and committed the child to His keeping, and had the 



34^ The Cross and the Dragon. 

joy of seeing it soon after restored to health. A few 
days later the child of the woman who urged the wor- 
ship of the idols was taken ill. She followed her own 
recommendation, and sought relief at the temple ; but all 
in vain, the child died. This event attracted the atten- 
tion of many, and was used to confirm the faith of the 
Christians, and shake the confidence of the people in 
the gods. 

Their readiness to take an active part in Christian ser- 
vices is a pleasing characteristic. Very few intelligent 
men or women are found who are not willing to lead 
in prayer, or engage in teaching when required. This 
readiness to use their talents is of great advantage. 
Often separated from all others, they may at any time 
be in circumstances where great good may be accom- 
plished by such gifts. Accustomed to perform worship 
to the idols in public, they feel no shame or diffidence 
in the worship of God. They are fond of religious 
meetings, and, when left to themselves, often prolong 
them to a great length. Prayer, singing, and exhorta- 
tion are interspersed, singing always forming an impor- 
tant part. No systematic attempt has been made to 
utilize the native music, which would require great 
modification, in order to adapt it to the ser\nce of song. 
The gospel hymns have been translated ; and such 
stirring tunes as " Hold the Fort," " Revive us Again," 
etc., may be heard constantly in their meetings. In the 
schools the girls and women hold meetings, and show 
great aptitude in prayer and other forms of service. 
The girls, in their prayer-meetings, display a fluency and 
power of language in supplication, beyond what many 



The Native Christians. 349 

clergymen can command, and sing with an earnestness 
that redeems any defects in voice or harmony. 

The spirit of unity manifested among the Christians 
in Canton is most gratifying. The sectarian differences 
are comparatively slight, and the distinctions are more 
in name than in reality. As long as the native churches 
are connected ecclesiastically with the home churches, 
these names will be kept up. The paramount impor- 
tance of uniting on the main issues, and of presenting a 
simple Gospel to the people, has kept the missionaries 
from exaggerating differences of creed. The discussion 
of the question of the proper term to use for "God," has 
assisted indirectly in breaking the power of sectarian- 
ism, by absorbing the controversial talent. Among 
missionaries, as well as other bodies of men, there are 
certain persons who are born controversialists, whose 
peculiar mission seems to be the agitation of vexed 
questions, and who have kept the theological world in 
turmoil through the past. Fortunately the question of 
" terms " has engaged the attention of these eager spirits, 
while the discussion of creeds has scarcely come up. 
Divided into three parties, each advocating a particular 
term, controversy has raged around this question, which 
has engaged all the polemic talent available ; so that the 
points of theology between Methodist and Presbyterian, 
Congregationalist and Baptist, have been left in the 
background. Considering how bitter, worse than use- 
less, and destructive of all Christian unity, such discus- 
sions have often proved, we cannot be too thankful that 
in planting the church of Christ in China, these differ- 
ences have been, in a measure, overlooked; and that 



350 The Cross and the Drag07i, 

these infant churches have not been perplexed by the 
presentation of various systems, in many respects con- 
tradictory, each supported by long lines of arguments, 
and backed by astonishing arrays of authority. The 
books published by the various Missions are used by 
all ; and it is not an unusual thing to hear a strong Cal- 
vinistic sermon from a Wesleyan or a London Mission 
preacher, and a long argument bearing the stamp of Wes- 
ley's logic from a Presbyterian. No attempt has been 
made to establish a union church under one particular 
form of government, or to unite the various bodies in one 
systematic expression of faith. The time for the discus- 
sion of this is still in the future. The creed of the Church 
of Christ in Canton, if they ever unite in a common ex- 
pression of belief, will be something which the wisest 
cannot yet presume to prophesy. While bearing the 
marks of the founders of the churches, their confession 
of faith will doubtless crystallize in formulas different, 
in expression at least, from any presented to them now. 
Their peculiar cast of mind and modes of thought will 
lead to characteristic expressions of belief, which will, 
no doubt, embody the best of all they have received. 
The historical significance of such names as Calvin and 
Wesley not being felt, there is hope that what is too 
often widely separated in other parts of the world may 
be harmonized here. 

The form of church government they will adopt is 
also a question which cannot now be determined. Each 
church now represented dwells on the special adapta- 
tion of its particular form. The Independent form 
allows too much liberty, and opens the way for many 



The Native Christians. 351 

irregularities, which even now are giving some trouble 
in the church in Fat-Shan. The Episcopal is too hie- 
rarchal, and will foster a spirit of formalism, to which the 
tendency is already too strong. The Presbyterian has 
many points in its favor : by its representative system it 
brings matters within easy control, and by the power 
vested in the Presbytery can assist and protect isolated 
churches. If it should become the prevailing form, it 
will, no doubt, be modified to suit the circumstances. 
The absence of any bitter sectarianism, and the constant, 
free interchange of thought among the different bodies 
of Christians are leading to a better understanding of 
the good qualities and the needs of all. They have a 
Christian Union of their own, and hold quarterly meet- 
ings in the various churches in succession. A preacher is 
selected, and a programme of services arranged before- 
hand. The meetings are always well attended, five or 
six hundred sometimes gathering, and arc the occasion 
for the best efforts of the native preachers. They are 
held during the week, and never interfere with the usual 
Sabbath services ; delegations from churches in the 
country frequently attend. A bi-monthly conference of 
the native preachers is held, at which the representatives 
of all the Missions meet to compare notes of work, and 
discuss the best means of reaching the people. These 
meetings are often the scenes of interesting debates ; 
the various methods pursued are compared and criti- 
cised. A record of the members admitted to the 
church is kept, and the mutual responsibility of keeping 
watch over the scattered groups of Christians acknowl- 
edged. The importance of the native Christians* all 



352 The Cross and the Drag07i. 

being known and recognized is felt, so that they may 
be protected when necessary, warned when in danger, 
and guarded from relapse. In their counsels they are 
always open to receive suggestions from the missiona- 
ries ; while the fact of voluntarily assuming this respon- 
sibility in the oversight of the native Church shows 
their readiness to help in every way possible. In this 
conference many subjects of practical importance are 
discussed, among which the subject of foot- binding has 
come up ; and the general unity of sentiment expressed, 
promises much good in the future. The evils of this 
practice are fully recognized, and the necessity of con- 
stant instruction in the matter urged. The duty of 
every Christian to abstain from this custom is laid down, 
and pastors requested to preach publicly on the subject. 
This position of the native Church will do more than 
any influence the missionary can exert, to create a senti- 
ment against the practice. The Presbytery of Canton 
has sent to the churches a pastoral letter on the subject, 
which is indorsed by the conference of native preachers, 
and which brings it in practical form before every mem- 
ber of the church. As a matter of fact, very few of the 
Christians bind their children's feet, yet the power of 
custom is so great that some have yielded. Many girls 
and women have unbound their feet after becoming 
Christians, with good effect. Such questions require 
great care in their treatment; no absolute rule can be 
adopted, but the sentiment of the whole body of Chris- 
tians is strongly against it. 

In the matter of opium, an equally strong position has 
been taken. An anti-opium society has been formed. 



The Native Christians, 353 

working in connection with the anti-opium committee 
of the missionary conference, and associated to a cer- 
tain extent with a similar society among the gentry. 
Its sphere is hmited, but the feeHng of opposition to 
the gigantic evil aroused is most salutary. The invari- 
able rule in all churches is to refuse baptism to an 
opium-smoker; and their fidelity to this rule has been 
severely tested in instances where men of position and 
influence, addicted to the habit, have applied for mem- 
bership. No compromise is allowed ; nothing but the 
absolute and permanent breaking up of the habit can 
avail. So, too, with the manufacture and sale of the 
drug: Christians are required to keep themselves clear 
from all connection with it, either in the way of per- 
sonal use or of business. The purity of the Church 
demands decided action on such questions, and the 
loss of a few, who would be but doubtful acquisitions, is 
more than made up in the accession of moral strength 
to the whole. Analogous to the question of intem- 
perance in other lands, the use of opium requires the 
first and constant attention of the Church ; total absti- 
nence from the use of the drug is insisted upon, and 
made the absolute condition of membership, and the 
violation of this important regulation is made the mat- 
ter of immediate and strict discipline. 

Other questions of practical interest, such as the rela- 
tion of the Christians to guilds, the proper form of cere- 
mony in marriages and in funerals, the subject of the 
betrothal of children, and their marriage to unbelievers, 
receive attention. The interchange of opinion secured 
is most beneficial, and the practical outcome of their 

23 



354 ^^^ Cross and the Dragon, 

deliberations is often of great value. Common interests, 
common hindrances, common hopes, and the one great 
source of comfort to which they fly, tend to unite them 
more fully; and it is the prayer of all who sincerely long 
for the coming of Christ's kingdom that this spirit of 
unity may ever prevail among the churches in Canton, 
that they may ever recognize each other as Christians 
first, and be joined in cordial union. The results of Chris- 
tian education are becoming manifest in the management 
of their families and in arrangements for the marriage of 
their children. They appreciate the privilege of pre- 
senting their children to the Lord, and accept with grate- 
ful feelings the comfort and help which the covenant of 
baptism brings. They show great care and affection 
for their little ones, and manifest a strong desire to have 
them educated; and this desire of the parent, fulfilled 
more largely as the facilities for education increase, will 
bear rich fruit in the future. An intelligent community 
will spring up that will command the respect of the peo- 
ple and exert a wide-spread influence. Many of them 
are poor and ignorant, knowing only the rudiments of 
the faith ; yet the deep importance of trust in Christ and 
constant obedience to Him is always found impressed 
upon them. Their lack of spirituality and the little zeal 
they often show for the salvation of others, are frequent 
sources of anxiety to those who act as shepherds to the 
flock in Canton ; but when their previous habits of life 
and the narrow circle of their daily thoughts are consid- 
ered, it is not so much to be wondered at. It is perhaps 
too much to expect that all will be filled with an aggres- 
sive spirit, that will lead them to cry in the streets and 



The Native Christians. 355 

lanes, bidding all to come. It is enough, perhaps, with 
many of them that they are able to give a reason for the 
hope that is in them, and to live the Gospel in their lives. 
The examples of unselfish zeal are numerous. Among 
the children are found many little workers, whose young 
hearts glow with love to Jesus, and who in their homes 
or among their school friends speak for Him and urge 
others to become Christians. Among the young men 
are many noble spirits who stand up manfully against 
the ribald jests and open scoffs of their companions, and 
by the pure light of a Christian example proclaim the 
truth with power. Among the women the list of faith- 
ful witnesses is long ; and the number whom they have 
influenced in the acceptance of Christ shows what faith- 
ful disciples they have been. Sons look with gratitude 
to mothers through whom they have learned of Jesus ; 
husbands saved from evil habits and unbelief by the 
prayers and examples of wives are found enjoying the 
comforts of religion. Households now united in the wor- 
ship of the true God point to the faithful mother or 
sister who first found the precious truth. The spectacle 
of a son carrying his mother two miles on his back to 
the Christian church is one that attests both his love for 
her and his devotion to his Master. A man holding an 
umbrella over his wife in the street is a most unusual 
sight, yet the Gospel leads to such acts of consideration. 
Little girls are not looked upon as burdens, but received 
as gifts from above, and trained as lambs in the fold of 
Jesus. The Christians of Canton are, as a whole, a noble 
company, gathered from every walk of life. Assembled 
in the individual churches, or crowding the largest halls 



35^ The Cross and Ike Dragon. 

in their union meetings, it is an inspiring sight to behold 
them. Dressed with care, reverent in demeanor, atten- 
tive to the services, they show a deep respect for the 
house of God, and entering with real zest into the exer- 
cises, they show their delight in worshipping Him. They 
form an aggregate of zeal, intelligence, and personal 
worth that cannot but be a power for good. They are 
a noble monument of the triumphs of the Cross already 
won in the face of mighty difficulties, and are the pledge 
of greater multitudes to be brought to the knowledge 
of Christ. 



Trials of Converts. 357 



CHAPTER XIX. 

TRIALS OF CONVERTS. 

SUPERSTITION is ever the mother of cruelty, and 
in China has aroused the baser passions of men to 
oppose with violence the advance of the truth. This 
hostility is not only directed against the Church as a 
body, but attacks the individual members, who are ex- 
posed to numberless trials in their lives as Christians. 
It requires no little courage to brave the persecution 
that is sure to arise, in some form, against converts to 
Christianity ; and the witness for the truth, borne in the 
face of prevailing hatred and violence, is a strong proof 
of their sincerity. There is scarcely a man, woman, or 
child, among the four thousand four hundred Christians 
in Canton, who has not been exposed to reproach, cal- 
umny, injustice, or physical violence, because of his re- 
ligion. The forms which such treatment assumes show 
how deep the darkness of error is, how blind and unrea- 
soning its outward manifestation becomes. The mildest 
form in which it comes is that of personal abuse and 
verbal reproaches for the sake of Christ. The minds of 
the people are often filled with the wildest and most 
frightful notions of the morality of Christian people ; it 
appears to them, as they listen to the base slanders of 
designing opponents, to be the very *' doctrine of devils," 



358 The Cross and the Dragon. 

and they accuse the converts of complicity in all sorts 
of wickedness. They are openly charged with the most 
unnatural crimes. Women are assailed with volleys of 
abuse, implying conduct not only most abhorrent, but 
utterly impossible under the circumstances. False- 
hoods, the vilest ever conceived, originally the fruit of 
the base ingenuity of unprincipled men, are repeated 
as truth, and widely believed. In some places public 
notices are posted embodying these slanders, and blank 
forms for deeds of sale or lease of property distributed, 
in which Christian chapels and schools are classed with 
gambling-places, houses for receiving stolen goods, and 
those for the basest of immoral purposes ; and, on the 
ground of their evil character, the people are forbidden 
to sell or rent for such purposes. In consequence of 
these things. Christians are often branded as immoral, 
lost to all sense of propriety, deceived by pernicious 
teaching. In going through the streets they are in- 
sulted by vile epithets, and held up to reproach as the 
" offscouring of the earth." If a man brings his wife 
from his home in the country to be instructed in the 
school, the worst construction possible is put upon his 
action ; and perhaps a resolution is passed by the village 
authorities forbidding her return, lest the town should 
be contaminated. Nothing but the deep conviction of 
the truth of the Gospel, and the power of God to assist, 
can sustain them in the face of such calumnies. In 
many places they are able to live down these slanders, 
and by pure and honest lives command the respect of 
the people. It is a remarkable instance of the unrea- 
soning hatred of the ignorant and debased, that they 



Trials of Converts. 359 

charge upon Christians the very practices with which 
they are themselves most deeply stained, and denounce 
them as fit only for destruction in consequence. They 
are always called " disciples of the foreigners," " the 
followers of the red-haired devils," and are often re- 
garded as spies and traitors in collusion with the enemies 
of the nation. 

The trials encountered in the family are often most 
severe. A son becomes a Christian, and is covered 
with reproaches as a reprobate from the faith of his 
fathers ; he is accused of unfilial conduct, — the worst 
charge that can be brought against a man in the eyes 
of the Chinese. The tombs and tablets will be neglected, 
and the spirits of the dead reduced to beggary. The 
parents loudly lament the dismal fate brought on them 
by their recreant child, who has been deceived by the se- 
ductive teaching of the foreigner. " Oh, oh," the mother 
cries, " that I should live to see this day, to see my son 
cast off his father and mother, desert the graves of his 
ancestors, and bring this disgrace on the family ! " and 
perhaps will beat him with rods to drive out the evil 
spirits which are supposed to possess him. One of our 
young men was chained for weeks, under the belief that 
he was suffering from some occult spell ; but he pa- 
tiently and kindly assured them of his sanity, and was 
released; his experience only increasing his desire to 
bring his friends to a knowledge of the truth. 

A young man of unusual talent and of good family 
was brought to study the truth. His attendance at the 
chapel resulted in his acceptance of it as the Word of 
Life, but the habit of using opium stood in the way 



360 The Cross and the Dragon. 

of his reception into the church. His full conviction of 
the truth was shown on the occasion of an idol proces- 
sion, in which a popular local divinity was carried back 
and forth from his shrine to call down rain upon the 
parched earth. Ascending a platform near the hall 
where the idol was temporarily received, he boldly de- 
nounced the folly and uselessness of such ceremonies, 
proclaiming the sovereignty of the one true God, in 
whose hands were the destinies of all men, and who 
gave " to all men life, and breath, and all things." He 
was interrupted by the jeers of some companions, who 
demanded of him, '' How much do the missionaries pay 
you for such harangues? " He replied that so far from 
receiving anything from them, he was not yet a member 
of the church ; but he knew the doctrine they preached 
was true, and was urged by an uncontrollable impulse 
to proclaim it to the people. Spiritual help was given 
him to break off the opium habit, and the way thus 
opened for his baptism. His father was indifferent; but 
his mother opposed him in every way. She would hide 
his shoes and clothes, so that he was often late at the 
service, or dressed in laborer's clothes. She would plead 
with him to return to his old ways; and he would 
answer, " Mother, am I not a better son now than I was 
before I became a Christian? I do not gamble; I do 
not smoke opium ; I keep myself pure, and love you a 
hundred-fold more than ever." Unable to understand 
the change that had come over him, she would say, *' I 
would rather have you a gambler, an opium-smoker, a 
profligate, than to have you a Christian." All the fresh 
feelings of love and reverence which his Christianity had 



Trials of Converts, 361 

kindled toward his mother made the bitterness of her 
reproaches the harder to bear; but he remained firm, 
professed his faith, and is an active member and an orna- 
ment of the church in that city. Trials of another kind 
also beset his path. Associated with his father in busi- 
ness, his duty was often to entertain the richer customers 
that came. The passing of the opium-pipe forms an 
important part of polite entertainment ; this, as a Chris- 
tian, he could not do. His refusal was taken as a slight, 
and business began to fall off, so that his father became 
alarmed, and accused him of neglecting the interest of 
the firm. He has stood the test of these trials, and is 
now in a position where he is full master of his own 
time and conduct. 

A leading man in one of the villages near Canton 
became an applicant for baptism, and the day fixed 
for his reception was his birthday. We congratulated 
him on the happy coincidence ; but his mother, strong 
in her superstition, interposed, and forbade his join- 
ing the church on that day. She disliked his being 
a Christian, but had held her peace until the day was 
fixed ; and as it was the day on which he had been given 
to her, she begged him, for her sake, not to incur the 
chances of misfortune by taking such a step on that day. 
The day being unimportant, he yielded to the wishes of 
his mother, at the same time protesting against the su- 
perstitious motive that prompted her request. 

Lee-yen, a Christian returned from California, was 
greatly tried by his family. In weak health, he was 
unable to endure the hardship of farm labor, and had 
tried various employments without success. His wife 



362 The Cross and the Dragon, 

and mother charged his misfortunes upon his rehgion, 
and urged him to renounce it. He became a student- 
preacher, and this excited their anger still more; his 
wife repeatedly threatened suicide, and on one occasion 
tried to strangle herself. His home life was a long and 
bitter experience of opposition, but his faith prevailed ; 
their open hostility ceased, his wife relented, and even 
joined him in acts of worship to Jesus. 

Mo-Hing, who returned from Los Angeles, became 
a preacher of unusual ability. Full of gentleness and 
deeply imbued with the spirit of the Master, his desire 
was to bring the truth to his own family ; but instead of 
the joy he hoped to cause, he was received with storms 
of abuse. Their indignation knew no bounds ; his wife 
and mother heaped reproaches upon him in a ceaseless 
stream. He was in charge of a mission out-station ; but 
his wife refused to accompany him to the place, yet 
complained of his neglect in separating himself from 
her. His young brother became his pupil, and soon 
professed conversion ; on his return home, he was beaten, 
imprisoned in a room, and subjected to great cruelty to 
compel him to recant. Mo-Hing hastened to his rescue, 
but could not prevail on the mother to allow him to 
return to the station. Excuse after excuse was made. 
The field work was behindhand, and he could not be 
spared. This objection was met by Mo-Hing and the 
missionary who accompanied him turning husbandmen 
for the time, and hoeing the sweet potatoes and other 
crops requiring attention. The boy, however, was not 
released, all their efforts only extracting a promise, 
never fulfilled, that he should follow them to the station 



Trials of Converts. 363 

in a few days. Every day beholds the striking fulfil- 
ment of the words of our Lord, *' A man's foes shall be 
they of his own household." Natural affection is con- 
verted into bitter enmity ; the ties of family life are un- 
bound and turned into whips of scorpions, by which the 
hearts now filled with Christian love are stung and 
wounded. 

Old Chiu-Tak-chiu, a paralytic, received the truth, 
and was happy in the hope it inspired, but the spirit 
of evil was aroused in his wife and friends, who de- 
serted him and left him to starve in his helplessness, 
because he was a Christian ; he was saved by the timely 
help of others, and sustained until his death by the 
charity of Christian friends. 

The intensity of hatred that can be aroused was 
strikingly shown in the case of Ng-Oon, a Banner-man 
in the city. His mother drove him from his home 
by her reproaches, followed him through the streets 
and to the houses of the neighbors, accusing him 
publicly of every form of wickedness. He bore it all 
meekly, ever hoping she would be brought to know 
the truth. She accused him before the officials, causing 
him to lose his position as a soldier, and the monthly 
allowance attached, thus cutting off the means of her 
own support as well. She carried the matter to the 
higher tribunal, taking advantage of a custom still in 
vogue, that when parents have a son who is worthless 
and incorrigible, they may deliver him to the magistrate, 
to be exposed in the street with the kangy or broad 
wooden collar, around his neck as an example of incura- 
ble badness. She went to the magistrate with her tale 



364 The Cross and the Dragon. 

of falsehood, but was checked by the threat that if her 
charges were not sustained they would recoil upon her 
own head. Through all this bitter experience he main- 
tained an attitude of kindness and forgiveness, proving 
the falseness of every reproach by unremitting attention. 
Her insane persecution reached such a point that it was 
deemed best for all concerned that he should leave the 
place, the whole neighborhood concurring in the opinion 
that he was driven to such a step by his mother's outra- 
geous treatment. Another Banner-man, of more than 
usual ability, suffered the loss of all for Christ. Engaged 
to be married and possessed of a prosperous business, 
he found himself the object of suspicion and the victim 
of fraud. The family of his betrothed renounced him, 
broke off the engagement, a step allowed only in ex- 
treme cases ; his partners in business, knowing how 
difficult it would be for a Christian to secure redress, 
robbed him of his money and broke up his business. 
He was driven forth, homeless, friendless^ and almost 
penniless, to seek his fortune in another land. 

Harsh as are the trials to which men are exposed, they 
are not equal to those which meet the girls and women. 
The full tale of suffering which Christian women in 
China have to bear can never be told. It is not simply 
the bitter trial of words of hate that scorch the heart, 
the curses that fall like pitiless hail upon them, the 
reproaches that grieve though they cannot defile, but 
the physical violence to which they are subjected that 
crushes them. It is not the wild rage of some general 
storm of persecution, but the constant burden of ill 
treatment in their own homes that is most trying. When 



Trials of Converts, 365 

girls apply for baptism the consent of their parents is 
obtained, when possible, that the trials of their home 
life may be lessened; but this is not always attainable, 
and the young heroines must brave the opposition of all 
to whom they should naturally look for sympathy and pro- 
tection, that they may not fall under the condemnation 
of those who love " father and mother more than Christ." 
The severest trials of those who have not Christian par- 
ents usually come at the time of their marriage. Their 
hands have been bestowed by their parents or guardians 
upon those chosen by them ; and many idolatrous rites 
attend the marriage ceremony, in which their fidelity is 
sorely tried. Then follows a life of which no proper idea 
can be gained beforehand. An inmate of her husband's 
house, she submits to his mother as her own ; and often 
the fact of her being a Christian is made the pretext for 
a ceaseless round of petty persecutions. From morning 
till night she will be assailed with accusations against 
the Christians and unjust remarks on her own conduct. 
Disregarding the unselfish devotion which the Christian 
daughter-in-law shows, they will hold her up to the re- 
proach and scorn of the family, of the neighborhood, 
and the passing visitor, as wanting in all womanly vir- 
tues. If her feet are of the natural size, they may com- 
pel her to have them bound, as was done in the case 
of beautiful A-Hung. Transferred from the pure and 
peaceful atmosphere of the boarding-school to the jeal- 
ous, carping, exacting life of a heathen household, she 
began a life of trial. Besides the daily reproach and 
insult which her husband and mother inflicted upon her, 
she was forced to put her feet into bandages, and be 



366 The Cross and the Dragon, 

subjected to the excruciating torture of having them 
compressed. As the cruel treatment went on for weeks 
and months, she was oftentimes compelled to shriek out 
in the intensity of her suffering; as a result she was 
wrecked in health and beauty. These misfortunes, in- 
stead of exciting pity, only increased the ill treatment 
of the family. 

The opposition of their immediate relations often 
leads to their ejection from the clan, and robs them 
of their rights as citizens. Failure to perform the rites 
of worship or attend the gathering of the clans cuts 
them off from the privileges so highly prized ; they are 
disgraced in the eyes of their acquaintances, and the way 
closed for them in seeking redress of grievances. They 
can be imposed upon with impunity, and are subjected 
to innumerable petty frauds and annoyances in conse- 
quence. They are declared to be enemies of the public 
good, working against the time-honored customs and 
beliefs of their fathers, deserving only the contempt of all 
good citizens. They have no standing in their villages ; 
their petitions to the magistrates will not be received ; 
and their lives are frequently in danger. This is not of 
course the fate of all, but may happen to any one. The 
return of a Christian to his native place is often made 
the occasion of testing his adherence to old customs. 
Wisdom and tact on his part may avoid an open rupture, 
but if his opponents are anxious to bring about a colli- 
sion, the task is not difficult. Abuse and violence usually 
follow the public refusal to bestow a share of the roast 
pig, the formal way of cutting a man of! from the clan; 
the blows and harsh words of reproach from the heads of 



Trials of Converts. 367 

the clan are soon known over the country, and endless 
annoyances result. 

In San-ui, Lee-Keng-00 suffered greatly from his 
relatives. His fields were fraudulently taken, and his 
share in the rice refused ; the doors of his house were 
walled up to prevent his entrance ; he was beaten in the 
street, and exposed to numberless indignities. The 
magistrate refused to receive his petitions for redress, 
but listened to the version of his uncles, who combined 
against him. He was expelled from the clan ; his wife, 
mother and children exposed to many trials because 
he was a Christian. The treaties guarantee protection 
to native converts ; but many difficulties stand in the 
way of securing to them the advantages of the provision 
made. The importance of having the native Church 
grow up self-reliant renders it unwise to interfere in 
every case of persecution. Were this done, the hope 
of receiving help in their local difficulties would 
influence many to come under the protection of the 
missionary; so that except in extreme cases, the 
help of the consul is never solicited. The diplo- 
matic regulations require that all intercourse with the 
Chinese officials must be carried on through the con- 
sul, so that the missionary is debarred in a great 
measure from bringing matters personally before the 
officials. 

The sympathy of the officials with the offenders is 
often the greatest obstacle to obtaining just decisions. 
The story of Wong-Fook shows this in a remarkable 
way. A barber by trade, he left his home and opened 
a shop in a village sixty miles distant, leaving his family 



368 The Cross and the Dragon. 

in the city of Pok-lo. Yielding to the influence of a 
notorious character, his wife deserted him, and allowed 
his daughter to be kidnapped. The facts were all well 
known, and the name of the man who had blighted his 
home was familiar to the officers. Deeply concerned 
for the fate of the girl, then twelve years of age, I gave 
all the assistance in my power, and accompanied by the 
native assistant, went in person to the mandarin's office. 
A petition was drawn up, the facts recorded, and men 
sent out to arrest the culprit The mention of the man's 
name called forth the remark of the official : " Lee-Hap, 
oh, yes, we know him, — a disreputable character : we will 
bring him to justice." A delay of several days being 
necessary, I left Wong-Fook with the native preacher 
in charge of the case. When Lee -Hap appeared, he 
entered a counter-charge, accusing the father of de- 
serting his family, who, but for him, would have been 
in beggary, denounced him as a Christian, and openly 
insulted him in the presence of the mandarin. The 
magistrate, no doubt influenced by a bribe, treated 
Wong-Fook with the greatest indignity, compelled him 
to prostrate himself, and go through an examination in 
the attitude of a criminal, dismissed him with the sever- 
est censure, warned him to leave the town, and declared 
him deserving of the punishment he had tried to bring 
on the other party. The poor old father was compelled 
to drop the case and leave his child to her fate, nor 
could we interfere further in his behalf A paragraph 
appeared, a few weeks later, in a Hong-Kong paper, in 
which it was said that a suspicious character, having a 
young girl in his charge, of the same name and from 



Trials of Converts, 369 

the same town, was arrested as he was about to take 
passage to Macao ; but as no evidence that he was 
not her father, or that he meant to sell her, could be 
found, he was discharged. It was doubtless old Wong's 
daughter taken to Macao, where all hope of tracing 
her in the evil resorts that abound in that city was at 
an end. 

The loss of money and property is the frequent con- 
sequence of the profession of Christianity. Leung- Yem 
returned from Los Angeles with a few hundred dollars. 
His father's house was old and in bad condition, and he 
felt no little pride in having the means of providing a 
comfortable home for his parents in their old age. He 
was advised to be cautious, and not risk all his money; 
but he invested all the earnings of years in the enter- 
prise. A lot was secured, the materials purchased and 
brought to the place, and the foundation begun, when 
the villagers, perceiving that no idolatrous ceremonies 
had been performed, no lucky day chosen, rose in a 
body, and forbade the work to proceed. Fearing that 
his disregard of their customs would bring ill luck upon 
the whole town, they insisted on his submitting to their 
requirements. Refusing to comply, he was driven from 
the place; his money sunk in the building materials 
was lost to him, and he returned to the city downcast 
in spirit, with his mind made up to leave the country. 
Faithful to his obligations as a Christian, he has had the 
joy of seeing his father converted, and is now preparing 
himself for medical work; but the loss of his money 
through the perverse superstitions of his neighbors is a 
stern proof to him of the power of error in his country. 

24 



370 The Cross and the Dragon. 

He is not alone in such treatment. Kwan-Loy and his 
brother each inherited a house from their father; their 
profession of Christianity cut them off from the sympa- 
thy and association of their native town, and their elder 
brother, intrenching himself behind the general feeling 
of hostility, proceeded to appropriate their inheritance. 
One house was torn down, and the materials sold piece- 
meal; the other was leased, and the rent appropriated. 
The ill favor with which these Christian brothers are 
regarded prevents them from interfering to save their 
property, the decree having already gone forth that they 
are aliens from the clan of their fathers. 

The name of Siu-Shek-lin is one well known in Can- 
ton. He is the Christian contractor who has erected sev* 
eral of the finest structures in the city ; he is a respected 
member of the Wesleyan church, and shows his fidelity 
in many ways. Years ago, when he became a Chris- 
tian, he was exposed to great persecution in his native 
town ; his business was broken up, his name maligned, 
and finally the villagers expelled him from their midst, 
saying it was '* bad luck for the town to have a Chris- 
tian in it." What appeared disaster to him has re- 
sulted in material good, and brought him an extended 
business that would never have come in his little native 
town. 

Superstition and idolatry are so constantly associated 
with every phase of life and business that the profession 
of Christianity often leads to the discharge of a man 
from employment, and closes the way for his entrance to 
any of the trades. A shop-boy is not only expected 
to sweep out and attend to the shop, but to light the 



Trials of Converts. 371 

incense for worship on the Httle altars ; and the refusal 
to perform such offices will probably cause his prompt 
dismissal. The guilds which bind the different trades 
together in associations for mutual assistance have many 
heathen rites connected with them, which Christians 
cannot observe. In the guild of shoemakers, for in- 
stance, the apprentice is required to sweep the shop out 
in the morning, light the incense, and provide oil for 
the lamp in the shrine of the earth-god. This prevents 
Christians from entering such a trade. In the course 
of the year, contributions are levied for processions in 
which the patron deity of the guild is carried through 
the streets, and a celebration in which idolatry is mixed 
up with general hilarity. The refusal to contribute for 
such purposes is made the ground for expulsion from 
the guild, which usually means that a man must give up 
his trade, as little hope of employment is found outside 
the guild. So with all the trades. The Christian is not 
only regarded with suspicion, but frequently expelled 
from the association, and cut off from the exercise of his 
handicraft, and Christian youth debarred from entering 
as apprentices. In a country where the people seeking 
work so far outnumber those for whose services there 
is a demand, this becomes a serious question. As the 
number of Christians increase, they, too, will be able to 
form combinations for their own mutual help and pro- 
tection, so that trials from this source will, we hope, 
become less in the future. Besides these guilds, each 
street and ward has its special feasts and processions ; 
and on the occasion of the anniversary of some idol, 
the building or repairing of temples, or thank-offerings 



372 The Cross and the Dragon, 

for protection from fire in the vicinity, a tax is levied 
on every house and shop. The exemption of Christians 
from such demands is officially acknowledged in a proc- 
lamation from the foreign office, in which it is expressly 
stated that such things being contrary to their religion, 
they cannot be required. While in all public works, 
improvement of streets, construction of roads, and such 
like, they are expected to pay their share, yet, in what- 
ever pertains to the worship of idols or ceremonies con- 
trary to the teachings of the Gospel, they are exempt. 
The publication and distribution of this decree, secured 
for Protestants through the kind offices of Minister An- 
gell, has had a good influence in protecting Christians 
from constant demands, and persecution in case of re- 
fusal in such matters. The evil, how^ever, still exists, 
and the malice shown is most evident. In Shek-lung a 
procession in honor of the earth-god required a tax of 
two cents from the shop of one of the Christians, which 
he refused to pay. The smallness of the sum was suffi- 
cient to prove that it was not refused from a mercenary 
spirit. Some with less stamina might have handed it 
over to save trouble ; but a deep principle was involved, 
and the man could not compromise his Christian fidelity 
even to the extent of giving two cents for idol worship. 
His refusal excited general hostility; the people of the 
street combined against him, and tried to drive him out, 
but were unsuccessful. They then withdrew their cus- 
tom, he being a barber, and for weeks his receipts were 
not sufficient to buy him rice. The two cents cost him 
many dollars, but the tide turned at last in his favor, 
and he now pursues his calling unmolested. 



Trials of Converts, 373 

The trials of the women in Canton, as they maintain 
their faith in the midst of opposition in their homes, 
and in the face of reproaches as they attend Christian 
services, are great ; but in the country districts they are 
often more severe. Few in number, isolated from each 
other, without sympathy of any sort, their burdens 
weigh more heavily upon them. They are often de- 
barred from the comfort and help of Christian fellow- 
ship by the cruel calumnies of their own people. At 
Chik-hom a small company of Christian women had 
been gathered; faithfully attending the services they 
had received much comfort and help ; but the rough 
idlers of the place, repeating the vilest slanders, aroused 
a general feeling of hostility against them. In spite of 
the threats made, they still came to the services; and 
the firmness with which they bore all the reproach 
which these wicked men heaped upon them was worthy 
of all praise. Through crowds of vile wretches, panting 
out the most offensive epithets, and pouring forth a 
stream of the basest slanders, that made us, who could 
hear them, fairly quiver with indignation, they made 
their way to the place of worship. These hostile demon- 
strations culminated in a mob, in which the lives of the 
missionaries and native Christians were threatened, but 
which was quelled by the assistance of the mandarin, 
before any acts of violence had been perpetrated. On 
the Sabbath, the chapel was besieged by a crowd of evil 
men who threatened the destruction of all, if the women 
were admitted ; anxious for their safety, we sent word 
to them not to come, and a general outbreak of violence 
was avoided. They did not wholly escape, however ; 



374 •^'^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

some in their homes, others among neighbors, were as- 
sailed in the basest manner. One, who was preparing to 
attend the service, was beaten by her nephew, and treated 
in the most brutal manner, she and her little son being 
compelled to flee to another village and remain in 
concealment for some time. In no instance did any of 
these women so persecuted prove false to their rehgion, 
but grasping with a simple faith the glad hope of salva- 
tion it had brought to them, stood fast in the Lord. In 
such cases we have the right to appeal to the mandarins ; 
but little good is secured. If, on the one hand, the offi- 
cer fails to obtain redress and guarantee protection, as 
is sometimes the case, the people say, " We have noth- 
ing to fear, we can treat them as we please ; there is no 
one to call us to account." If, on the other hand, the 
officers exert themselves and the offenders are punished, 
it is always treasured up as a grievance by the people, 
and made the occasion for secret assaults ; so that they 
are placed between two fires, and must meekly bear 
such trials and reproaches for the sake of Christ and 
their soul's salvation. I have known men whose oxen 
and farming utensils were stolen because they were 
Christians, but who did not dare to seek redress, lest 
all they had should be taken. The Christians in Canton 
have a deep claim upon the sympathy of all God's peo- 
ple. Were they all gathered into communities, their 
trials would be less hard to bear ; but scattered over the 
land, oftentimes removed from all sympathy, without 
the sight of a fellow-Christian for months or years, it 
may be, they need the strongest help to sustain them. 
Those who live in the full light and comfort of Christian 



Trials of Converts, 375 

lands cannot well appreciate the desolation, the cruelty, 
the hatred, that fall to their lot. No stronger proof of 
their sincerity could be asked, than their readiness to 
profess Christ in the face of all the trials which they 
know will beset them ; and no more conclusive evidence 
that the truth of God has taken deep root in their hearts, 
than the fidelity with which they cling to their faith, 
against all the schemes of friends and enemies to win 
them back to their former misbeliefs. 



2,'j6 The Cross and the Dragon, 



CHAPTER XX. 

TESTS OF FAITH. 

THE subjects of this and the preceding chapter are 
in some respects identical, but the hnes are not 
entirely coincident ; every trial through which the con- 
vert passes is not of necessity a test of faith, while the 
most conclusive tests of faith are not always found in 
the sphere of trials. The question as to the real char- 
acter of Chinese Christians is one that comes up con- 
tinually, and the demand is made, " What evidence is 
forthcoming to show that they have been truly con- 
verted?" "In the face of all the doubt that has been 
cast over their sincerity, what proofs can be adduced to 
show that the truth has taken a vital hold upon their 
hearts?" All who are familiar with the lives of our 
Christians in Canton will no doubt agree in the state- 
ment, that the power of God is nowhere more signally 
manifested than in the conversion of men and women in 
China. The proofs of this are of many kinds. Men 
long addicted to the use of opium, and bound by the 
chains of a habit stronger even than the craving for 
strong drink, have been so transformed by the simple 
power of the Gospel, as to be able to shake off the 
opium habit and live ever after free from it. Gamblers 
and men stained by unnamable crimes have been 



Tests of Faith. 2)77 



changed by it into honest, upright, God-fearing men. 
There are in Canton men and women who have en- 
dangered their lives for the sake of Christ. There are 
those who have been robbed of their property and 
beaten within an inch of their Hves, because they would 
not conform to idolatrous customs. Kwan-Loy, as he 
preached in Kau-Kong, with the offer of the reward of 
five hundred dollars for his head, posted in the market 
place, is an example of fidelity that needs no praise of 
ours to commend it. His companion, Lo-Look, the lame 
physician, the helpless victim of the mob that destroyed 
the preaching-hall, gave proof of his Christ-like spirit 
in another way. Prevented from escaping by his infirm- 
ity, he sat in his chair while the enraged mob tore up 
the furniture and pelted his unprotected head with the 
broken fragments of benches and chairs. His medicine- 
chest was destroyed, and the contents strewed over the 
floor; as one of the ruffians, in his eager assault upon 
what still remained, was about to step on a broken bottle, 
Lo-Look, unmindful of himself, called to him, " Beware, 
or you will cut your foot." It was a severe test of their 
fidelity when these two devoted men returned to the 
place a few weeks later, prepared to sacrifice their lives, 
if need be, in bringing the Gospel to the people of that 
crowded district. Weak women and young girls have 
endured, without flinching, treatment that would make 
strong men shudder. One of these, a beautiful Christian 
girl just graduated from the school, was married by her 
parents to a man whom they had chosen for her. An 
important part of the ceremony is the worship of the 
husband's ancestors ; the tablets are arranged on a table 



378 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



in the reception-room, and at the appointed time the 
young couple prostrate themselves to the earth, knock- 
ing their heads in worship to the spirits of the dead. 
Being a Christian, she refused to perform these idola- 
trous rites. They could bring her into the presence of the 




A CHINESE BRroE. 



tablets, but she refused to kneel ; they could then pull 
her feet from under her, and force her into a kneeling 
posture ; but she refused to bow the head ; they could 
then by main strength force her head to the ground 
three times, as the ceremony required, but her heart did 
not respond ; and as she afterwards told the missionary, 



Tests of Faith, 2>79 



with the tears streaming down her cheeks, ** I prayed to 
Jesus all the while, and I hope he will forgive what my 
body was forced to do, for my heart was toward him all 
the while." 

Lam-Iu-shi was a peasant woman of more than usual 
intelligence. Her acceptance of the truth was not a 
sudden impulse, but the result of clear conviction; 
and the proof she gave, in enduring constant ill treat- 
ment, of its power over her life was most positive. 
Beaten by her husband, she maintained her faith un- 
shaken; reduced by hardship and want to a state of 
weakness, she never wavered in her trust, but faithfully 
served the Lord in her house and carried the message 
of his love to others, several of whom through her 
means were made happy in the peace it brings. Each 
time she came to Canton, the light of faith shone brightly 
over all her trials, and gave her strength to bear in meek- 
ness the reproach of Christ. 

God's ways are not as our ways, and the spirit of His 
truth can surmount all difficulties, and cause even the 
blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. 
Many of the blind have been illumined by the light of 
life, and even the deaf and dumb been brought to the 
Saviour. In the city of Shiu-kwan, a man who can 
neither speak nor hear has been a faithful attendant 
at the service, and, as we believe, has become a sincere 
Christian. Quick in perception, he has caught the lead- 
ing ideas of worship, and joins with reverence in all the 
exercises. Expressing by signs his desire to be bap- 
tized, his knowledge was tested in various ways. In- 
cense and wax-candles were placed in the usual form 



380 The Cross and the Dragon. 

for idol-worship, and signs made for him to bow down. 
With a look of indignation, he swept them away with 
his foot, and placing his hand over his heart, looked 
reverently upward and pointed to the skies, showing his 
knowledge of the God who dwells not in temples made 
with hands. Their victory over innate selfishness attests 
the character of their faith ; and men and women giving 
their monthly wages to support those who revile them, 
show the power of that love " which seeketh not her 
own." 

Each fresh outbreak of hostility reveals some bright 
examples of fidelity. When the Baptist chapel at Ng- 
chow was attacked, the preacher might easily have 
sought safety in flight; but true to his trust, he re- 
mained at his post, refusing to yield. The assailants 
crossed their knives over his throat, but he stood fast 
until superior force compelled him to enter the boat 
prepared. 

Time-serving expediency would dictate a compromise 
with prevailing customs in the matter of choosing lucky 
days for laying the foundation of houses and similar 
undertakings, but strict adherence to the faith requires 
fidelity in that which is least as well as in greater things ; 
and the experience of Hong, in the town of Ku-tseng, 
shows that his faith was not a mere fancy. It was 
necessary for him to repair his house and enlarge it for 
the comfort of his family : explaining his position in the 
matter of certain rites deemed essential by the people, 
he proceeded without consulting the fortune-teller or the 
geomancer. No lucky day was chosen, and the whole 
responsibility of any evil consequences was assumed 



Tests of Faith, 381 



by him ; but this did not satisfy their unreasoning 
superstitions. They obstructed his work repeatedly; 
and as it drew near completion, gathered a mob and 
drove the workmen from the house, walled up the doors, 
and assaulted Hong in a murderous way. He was 
beaten with stones and clubs, dragged to the outskirts 
of the town, and left in a state of unconsciousness. For 
two hours he lay, as he expressed it, dead ; when life 
was given back to him, and he was enabled to escape 
further violence from his blood-thirsty assailants. No 
redress for his injuries could be obtained ; but with the 
true spirit of Him who, " when He suffered, threatened 
not," he has given himself to study, with the purpose of 
devoting his life to work for the people who sought his 
life. 

In the mob at Shek-lung, which destroyed the Presby- 
terian chapel, young Mr. Cheung, who was accidentally 
at the services, was nearly killed. The infuriated mob, 
under the supposition that they had found the regular 
preacher, Uen-Nga-kok, assaulted him as he was as- 
cending the steps to his room, threw him with violence 
on the stone floor, and cut him savagely about the head 
with the broken pieces of the chapel seats. Escaping 
from their hands he took refuge in our boat ; and as he 
lay on the bed, groaning in agony, said, " Jesus on the 
cross prayed that His tormentors might be forgiven ; 
I too pray that these people may be forgiven and 
brought to know the truth." 

The little flocks scattered over the country, ever main- 
taining a steadfast faith, are proofs of the prevailing 
power of the truth they have received. Women who 



382 The Cross and the Dragon. 

heard the Gospel in the city, after four or five years 
have returned to make pubhc profession of Christ, with 
the evidence that through all that time, amidst their 
heathen surroundings, they had kept one day in seven 
as the Sabbath, and maintained daily prayer. These, 
without the stimulus of membership in the church, have 
kept their faith pure ; and others, still subject to cruel 
treatment by their husbands, have held fast their Chris- 
tian faith in spite of indignities and violence, looking 
forward to the day when they can publicly confess the 
name of Christ. No possibility of outward benefit can 
influence such, separated as they are from the missionary. 
These lights, sparkling over that dark land, show where 
the martyr-spirits dwell. In larger towns they are some- 
times driven from the preaching-hall, and meet in the 
house of some member. This was the experience of 
the Baptist Christians in Tsing-uen ; and their fidelity 
was shown in the face of continued hostility, as week 
after week they met, often in fear and trembling, but 
ever in faith that God would protect them, as He did ; 
and a prosperous church, with its native pastor and 
ever-widening influence, is the grand result. 

The power of the truth to produce moral renovation 
is ever a signal test, and many instances might be cited 
as proofs of such power in China. One only will suffice : 
a man addicted to opium for forty years, and rich in the 
legacy of poverty, disease, and wretchedness which this 
habit inevitably entails, came under the influence of the 
Gospel. Ragged, penniless, and forlorn, he was the 
butt of many a rude jest, and the state to which he was re- 
duced was truly pitiable. The message of love touched 



Tests of Faith. 38, 



his heart ; his conscience stirred, and the hope of better 
things dawned on his desolate life. Encouraged by the 
preacher, he became a regular attendant, and special 
pains were taken to teach him the importance of repent- 
ance, faith, and a holy life. Spiritual help was given 
him to throw off the curse of opium, — a moral triumph 
scarcely equalled by the complete reformation of a con- 
firmed drunkard of forty years' standing. Naturally 
blessed with a cheerful disposition, his release from the 
bondage of opium revived his spirits, and led him to 
reform his conduct in every way. A complete and won- 
derful change was the consequence. Well clad and 
cheerful, he became the constant marvel of his com- 
panions, who could not understand the secret of the 
change ; and with true Chinese instincts they asked him 
how much money he received from the missionary. 
His reply was, " I have received more than can be told. 
I have food and clothing; I have a comfortable home, 
and money in my pocket ; and " — to complete the 
Chinese idea of luxury — "I have a pig, besides a joy 
and happiness beyond expression." A new man him- 
self, he must renovate his house : the good-luck papers 
were torn down and burned, and all the signs of super- 
stition and idolatry removed, except an image of Koon- 
Yam, ** the Goddess of Mercy." This had been in the 
house for generations, and he hesitated over it. The 
preacher insisted on its overthrow, until he said, ** If you 
will strike the first blow, I will remove it." The blow 
was struck, and no result followed save the sound of the 
blow on the block of wood ; and he entered with child- 
ish zeal into the destruction of the image, — struck it 



384 The Cross and the Dragon. 

repeatedly, threw it on the ground, and finally split it 
up and cooked his evening rice with the pieces. His 
unusual spirits, as he entered the meeting soon after, 
called forth general remark ; and he informed his friends 
that he had just partaken of a delicious bowl of Koon- 
Yam-chooky " Goddess-of-Mercy gruel," playing upon 
words in a manner not reproducible in Enghsh, — Koon- 
Yam-chook being a species of bamboo held sacred to 
the goddess, the word ckook^ meaning "gruel," being 
the same in sound as the word for bamboo. His cheer- 
ful testimony is ever given to the truth and power of the 
Gospel, and his recognition of Divine Providence most 
striking. At the side of his lot grew a large tree, over- 
shadowing it and rendering it unproductive. Such trees 
are held sacred by the people ; and no one would dare 
to cut them down, lest the good influences of the neigh- 
borhood should be lessened or destroyed. This tree 
happened to fall, in the course of a gale that not only 
blew it down, but into his yard. Accepting this gift of 
Heaven, he cut it into firewood, which he sold for ten 
dollars, and rejoiced in a vegetable garden open to the 
sun. 

Within the past year (1883) the church in Canton has 
been exposed to severe tests. Owing to the general ex- 
citement and the prospect of war with France, the posi- 
tion of the Christians has been a peculiarly trying one. 
They were charged with being emissaries of the French ; 
and the public and oft-repeated threat was, that after the 
foreigners were disposed of, the native Christians would 
all be destroyed. In every possible way they were made 
to feel that no mercy would be shown them in the event 



Tests of Faith. 385 



of war with a Western power. But they stood the 
test most nobly, many instances of Christian fortitude 
inspired by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, recall- 
ing the spirit of the early martyrs, being seen. Many of 
them have been weighed in the balances and not found 
wanting, but, filled with the spirit of Christ, have given 
unmistakable evidence of their oneness with Him. One 
small company, composed of men who belong to the 
Banner-men brigades, or the old Tartar garrison of 
the city, was exposed to the most sifting tests. As the 
result of several years' work, fifteen of these people 
have been led to embrace Christianity, all but one of 
them belonging to the Third Presbyterian Church in 
Canton. They were attacked in a Chinese newspaper, 
published in Hong-Kong, and denounced as spies, wait- 
ing for an opportunity to deliver the city over to the 
French. These slanders were backed by a series of 
falsehoods, in which a company of Banner-men was said 
to have acted in collusion with the English in the last 
war, and that a score of them had been found among 
the French prisoners captured in the attack on Sontay 
in Tonquin ; and the people were called upon to expose 
the secret enemies in the city in the person of these 
Christians. Previous to this, they had been subjected 
to many annoyances, and threats of violence freely in- 
dulged against them. A minor official without authority 
summoned each of these Christians before him, and 
commanded him to abjure his faith and pledge himself 
not to attend the Christian chapels again. Each one, 
also, was commanded to divulge the names of all who 
were Christians. This they refused to do, saying that 

2? 



386 The Cross and the Dragon 



all who were true Christians would not be afraid to 
acknowledge it when called upon to do so ; but if any 
should prove false to their profession, it would only 
involve them in trouble to give their names. The end 
for which these proceedings were instituted was not 
evident; and coming after all the threats made of im- 
prisonment, degradation, and death, the Christians were 
in doubt as to what was before them. Out of fifteen 
who were thus summoned, all but two stood the test, 
declaring plainly that they were Christians, and would 
remain so whatever the consequences might be. One 
yielded to the demand to refrain from attending the 
chapel ; but was so troubled in the night that he returned 
next day and retracted his promise, saying they might 
kill him for it, but he must attend the Christian church. 
The two who failed in the test were weak men, of whom 
nothing better was expected. One had already lost the 
confidence of the Christians ; and the other was so influ- 
enced by his friends that, when the summons came, he 
allowed them to answer for him. The test was a search- 
ing one, but the result has been a grand testimony to 
their fidelity. The final outcome, too, has been beyond 
all expectation. The Tartar general, the head of the 
military government in Canton, hearing of the action 
of his subordinate, summoned him to his presence, pub- 
licly censured him for his unwarranted course, and 
declared that, as the Christian religion was tolerated by 
the Emperor, these Christians should not be disturbed 
in their practice of it. In this way their standing was 
recognized by their general-in-chief, and the persecution 
that threatened serious consequences checked. To un- 



Tests of Faith. 387 



derstand the full strength of this test, it should be known 
that most of these men were dependent upon their 
pensions from the Government for their support; and 
even if they had escaped imprisonment or violence, could 
scarcely have hoped to retain their positions under the 
Government. The daily treatment they received in pass- 
ing through the street, when acquaintances would greet 
them with the words, " I congratulate you on the new 
collar you are to have," or enemies would hiss into their 
ears the sibilant sshat-ni, " murder you," did not add 
to their comfort. 

Notwithstanding the open hostility, the insolence of 
the rough people, and the insulting language addressed 
to ladies in passing through the streets, the Christians 
in Canton have maintained a steadfastness most grati- 
fying, and have shown themselves to be deeply in ear- 
nest in their adherence to the truth of Christ. Routine 
work was in a measure interrupted, but the attendance 
of Christians at all the services was remarkably good 
under the circumstances. 

It would be impossible to gather up all the instances 
of individual fidelity that have come under our notice, in 
the small compass of this chapter. In the household, 
in the school, in the workshop, in the public office, in 
the city, and in the country, these faithful witnesses for 
Christ have given their testimony. In the perfection 
of his self-denial no one can exceed Lo-fu of the Bap- 
tist Mission, who with singular zeal gave himself to 
the instruction of his countrymen who were going 
as emigrants to Demarara. Without means to pay 
his passage, he sold himself as a coolie in order to 



388 The Cross and the Dragon. 

accompany and preach the Gospel to them, and after 
his arrival worked out his redemption, devoting himself 
meanwhile to teaching his associates. His labors have 
resulted in gathering a church of over two hundred 
members, who, in addition to caring fo/ themselves, 
support a chapel and preacher in Canton. Beyond all 
praise and excelled by none is the example of this 
Christian hero, — only a Chinaman. His life alone, 
were no other evidence available, would settle forever 
the question of the power of the Gospel over the Chi- 
nese heart. 

Christianity teaches not only how to live, but also 
how to die; it not only throws the shield of its pro- 
tecting arm over the Christian amid the perils and 
troubles of his earthly journey, but sheds a flood of 
light across the gloom, and bridges with hope the dark 
river of death ; and this phase of its power is also strik- 
ingly seen in the church in Canton. Many of these 
Christians die far removed from all the kind sympathy 
and support of those who believe as they do, but testi- 
mony of their steadfastness, transmitted through heathen, 
has come to us repeatedly. Yam-a-Lin and his aunt 
hved far away from all other Christians ; but in the case 
of each, their friends declared how they prayed to 
and trusted Jesus in the end, and forbade all heathen 
ceremonies at their burial. I have watched beside the 
death-beds of these native Christians, and have seen 
them triumph over the last enemy. Two of these were 
elders in my own church ; and confined by months of 
lingering sickness, their rooms became very Bethels 
where the presence of God was ever manifested. Lau- 



Tests of Faith. 389 



Hing, a man of superior talent and great power as a 
preacher, broke himself down in the daily proclamation 
of the truth. From one to two hours, and even longer, 
he would preach to the great audiences in the chapel 
near the Double Gate. His zeal was beyond his strength, 
and brought on disease which cut him off in early man- 
hood. Gentle, patient, wise in counsel, sympathetic to 
all, he won the love and confidence of the whole church. 
No breath of hostile criticism ever stirred against his 
name as a Christian. His room was often thronged 
with friends, to whom the assurance of the infinite joy 
and comfort of a hope in Christ was given with most 
cheerful conviction. His only regret was the enforced 
idleness his malady laid upon him ; but the example 
of his spotless hfe, his perfect resignation, his earnest 
words of exhortation as the end drew near, were a les- 
son more deeply impressed than his most eloquent 
addresses. When death released him, the spontaneous 
tribute of his friends was shown in the great attend- 
ance at his funeral, the church being crowded with 
members from all the missions, and the long proces- 
sion that escorted his remains to the tomb exciting 
general remark from the people along the way. He 
died a saint, honored of God's people, and the savor 
of his life still breathes its fragrance over the Church 
in Canton, his words and example being still quoted 
as expressing the highest standard of piety they have 
known. 

His colleague, Liu-Kiu, was a man of different type, 
but no less faithful. Receiving from the native Church 
barely enough for his support, he devoted himself with 



390 The Cross and the Dragon. 

most unsparing energy to Christian work. No call 
from near or distant places fell heedless on his ear, 
but in the hospital, in the city, and in the country, he 
toiled incessantly as elder and colporteur, resting only 
when compelled by sheer failure of physical strength 
and vocal powers. In his last illness his great desire 
was to leave a good name behind him, so that none 
might point to him as faithless in any way. Intrusted 
with church and school funds, he was scrupulously ex- 
act in all his accounts ; and when all his worldly affairs 
were settled, he simply awaited the time of his depart- 
ure. Scores of people were attracted to his room and 
heard his expressions of unshaken confidence. It was 
beautiful to see the perfect faith he showed. He won- 
dered when the Lord would send for him, and only 
wished a little warning that he might call the elders 
and brethren in to pray ; no fear, no self-righteousness, 
no presumption, but a pure and simple reliance on 
God's love was ever shown, crowned by the cloudless 
hope of a happy immortality. The legacy which these 
dying Christians have left is a perpetual blessing to the 
Church ; as their friends gathered round their dying 
beds, they rose above all physical pain, and filled with 
a deep peace and a triumphant expectation, gave 
such testimony to the bliss of dying in Christ, that 
all who knew them were inspired with fresh hope and 
devotion. 

As they have approached the spirit world, these 
Christians have sometimes been blessed with visions 
of the coming glory, such as have cheered the last 
hours of Christians in other lands. One of those 



Tests of Faith, 391 



blessed with such experience was a woman who had 
suffered months of Hngering illness. As her end drew 
near, her daughter, who is one of our most accom- 
plished teachers, was sitting by the bedside, and her 
mother seemed to have gone. Overcome with grief 
at parting from her mother, she clasped her in her 
arms and prayed that she might be restored to her. 
Soon after, she revived, and turning to her daugh- 
ter said, " Why did you ask that I should be given 
back. I was with Jesus, and He would have kept me 
with him. Oh, it was so beautiful, so bright ! I long to 
be there." Erelong the messenger came, and crying, 
" Praise Jesus, praise Jesus ! " she passed into peace with 
Him. Let such scenes of victory be placed in contrast 
to the cheerless, hopeless, ghastly ending of the multi- 
tudes of that people, that the power of God's truth in 
bringing such experiences of hope and joy may be 
appreciated. 

In all parts of the whole wide circuit of Christian 
experience, the proofs of their fidelity are found. In 
almost every sphere of life they have been proved, and 
by every grade and variation of test, the result being an 
aggregate of proof which the same number of Christians 
in any land could not exceed. No attempt is made to 
conceal their imperfections. Nothing short of a miracle 
could, in the present stage of the work, bring them 
up to the knowledge and culture of Christian lands. It 
is the simpler phases of Christian life, which many com- 
munities have outgrown, that are more strikingly seen. 
They have the faith that questions not, the obedience 
that asks no reason for the command, the childlike 



392 The Cross and the Dragon, 

confidence that brings its trivial wants in prayer, the 
constant acceptance of God's providential care, the hon- 
est belief that sin will be punished, if not repented of, 
and the confident hope of heaven as the culmination of 
all their joys. The foundations of true faith have been 
deeply laid in their hearts; and the simple, intensely 
real, and matter-of-fact religious life that is developed, 
promises great permanence and power in the future. 



Christian Giving and Self-Support. 393 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CHRISTIAN GIVING AND SELF-SUPPORT. 

THE practical test of sincerity which appeals most 
strongly to the common-sense of people in gen- 
eral, is found in the material support which the converts 
give to the institutions of the Gospel. The evidences 
that come from the emotional or the sentimental side 
are regarded by many as more or less illusory, but the 
solid proof which the giving of their substance to the 
Lord affords is accepted by all. With the Chinese 
such proof is especially important. The mercenary 
spirit which is generally attributed to them, their sordid 
views of life, and the lack of anything like true benevo- 
lence among them as a people, make us look the more 
anxiously for evidences of the transforming power 
of the Gospel in the consecration of their property to 
the Lord. The constant aim of the missionaries has 
been to develop a spirit of liberality in the native 
Church ; and the success that has attended their efforts 
in this direction, though by no means striking, is such 
as to inspire great hope for the future. In this impor- 
tant branch of Christian education our people in Can- 
ton have hitherto been behind their brethren in some 
of the more northern portions of the Empire, but in 
recent years great progress has been made. Owing to 



394 '^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

the extreme poverty of most of the members, and the 
fact that they are scattered over so wide a territory, 
very little has been done in a systematic way. Its 
great importance is clearly recognized by all, and the 
leading men among the native Christians unite with 
perfect accord in the efforts made to bring the Church 
up to a high standard of liberality ; but as yet plans and 
methods for systematic action have not been fully ma- 
tured, nor is there perfect unanimity of opinion as to 
what should be aimed at, and what is at present attain- 
able. The subject is one attended with many difficul- 
ties, and the present small degree of success has been 
attained only by patient and persistent exertion. 

There is, to begin with, the poverty of the converts. 
They are respectable, but poor; and even when they 
belong to influential or perhaps wealthy families, the 
fact of their being Christians in many cases cuts them 
off from all the sources of income previously open to 
them. Many of them, in accepting Christ, have sacri- 
ficed home, property, and employment, giving in this 
way a hundred-fold more than the most liberal stand- 
ard in Christian lands requires. It is true that the 
treasury of the Lord is filled with the gifts of the poor, 
yet it becomes a difficult matter to urge those already 
in most straitened circumstances to reduce still further 
their slender support by voluntary contributions to the 
Church. 

Again, the isolation of many of them interferes seri- 
ously with systematic efforts. Those who are gathered 
into communities and meet regularly for worship can be 
easily reached ; but a large proportion of the native 



Christian Giving and Self-Support. 395 

Christians live at distant points in the interior, remote 
from each other, and can attend service only at infre- 
quent intervals. Another difficulty is found in the fact 
that they have never been accustomed to give anything 
for the benefit of others. Heathenism is essentially 
selfish : it expends everything for its own benefit, and 
takes no thought of others. Its demands, enforced as 
they are by superstitious fears, are often hard to meet, 
and keep the people in poverty. There is no practice 
of liberality in their former lives to which we can ap- 
peal. Moreover, the way in which the Gospel comes 
to them is often a hindrance to the development of 
such a spirit. It is presented as something free, " with- 
out money, and without price." They are exhorted to 
give up their false gods, which not only cannot help 
them, but waste their energies and squander their 
means, and to accept the free mercy of God. It comes 
to them not only as a spiritual release, but as freedom 
from the grinding taxation that superstition lays upon 
them. But half-enlightened, they make this truth, so 
grand and beautiful, the refuge behind which they hide 
when appeals are made for pecuniary help. Their ig- 
norance of the true spirit of the Gospel leads them to a 
misapprehension of the glorious blessings received, so 
that they sometimes congratulate themselves that they 
can not only save their souls but save their money too. 
On the other hand, the very fact that idolatry has been 
such a tax upon them, may be used as a strong argu- 
ment to incite them to Christian giving. The spirit of 
the two, however, must be kept distinct. The offerings 
of the one were forced from them under the compulsion 



396 The Cross and the Dragon, 

of fear and dread of disaster; the other must come 
freely as a thank-offering for blessings received. The 
power of superstition being broken, there comes a gen- 
eral sense of relief from its exaction ; it is only when 
the wondrous nature of God's love is in some measure 
realized, that the desire comes to show some apprecia- 
tion of the boundless good received. While it is true 
that in the families of the poorest at least several dol- 
lars are expended on idolatrous worship every year, yet 
we cannot go to them and say, " You must now give 
the same amount to the support of the Gospel." The 
motives in the two cases are so different that they can- 
not be placed side by side, or one made the reason for 
the other. It is perfectly legitimate to say that the 
amount given to idolatry shows what they can do un- 
der compulsion; that the blessings received in Christ 
should incite them to outdo their former service to the 
false gods in devotion to the true ; and that the least we 
can expect is that they should equal in their service of 
Christ the sacrifices made in serving the idols and 
spirits of the dead ; yet all confusion of motives in these 
matters must be carefully avoided, lest they look upon 
contributions to the Church in the light of meritorious 
services which in some way purchase for them the bless- 
ings of God's favor. It were far better to have them 
give less, and do it from pure motives, than to give more 
in the spirit in which they serve the idols. 

It is to a great degree a matter of education, as the 
history of the Church in all lands shows ; and as they 
are becoming enlightened on this and other important 
doctrines, the Christians in Canton are gradually rising 



Christian Giving and Self-Support, 397 

to a standard that will place them beside their brethren 
in more favored lands. In the practical application 
of the principles of benevolence two forms have been 
observed, namely, Christian giving in general, and self- 
support in particular. The former has been practised 
constantly since the first group of converts was gathered ; 
and in all the churches regular contributions are made 
for the general objects of benevolence, such as caring 
for the poor, employing colporteurs, and supporting 
different agencies. These contributions are made by 
weekly or monthly collections, or in the form of special 
subscription, and all the members contribute more or 
less. For many years little was done beyond the state- 
ment of the duty of giving freely to the Lord, to incite 
the members to greater exertion, and as a natural con- 
sequence the aggregate of gifts received was small. 
The Church has grown in numbers ; and the question of 
its permanent establishment has turned mainly on the 
power and willingness of the people to maintain the 
Church in its organized form among them. This has 
led to a thorough examination of the subject, and in 
some cases to concerted action to attain the result 
desired. 

To bring the matter in concrete form before our 
minds, the work done in several of the churches may be 
sketched. In the Second Presbyterian Church, the con- 
tributions had barely sufficed to meet the incidental 
expenses of the church, when seven years ago a special 
effort was made to secure funds for the employment of 
a colporteur. The amount was soon pledged ; and as 
the church grew rapidly in numbers, the sum guaranteed 



398 The Cross and the Dragon, 

was sufficient to pay the salary of a second colporteur 
as well, who was engaged. The constant presentation of 
the practical side of Christianity, and the necessity of 
caring not only for themselves, but for the myriads in 
darkness, awakened a spirit of zeal which made the 
employment of these two men possible. Encouraged 
by past experience, a great effort was made when the 
erection of a new church edifice became necessary ; the 
people entered with enthusiasm into the project, and 
more than doubled the sum expected of them. Every 
detail of the work was watched with the deepest interest ; 
and when the time appointed for its dedication came, 
an audience of five hundred native Christians was 
gathered ; representatives of all the churches in the city 
were there ; and on the walls hung panels of wood, with 
texts and precepts beautifully engraved, the gifts of sis- 
ter churches. The fine audience-room, furnished in 
excellent taste and reserved for the worship of God 
alone, is an object of great delight to the people, who 
took such an active part in its erection. Following 
their contributions to the new church came a scheme 
for a parish school, which was adopted soon after its 
presentation. The importance of providing for the 
Christian education of the children of members was 
deeply felt; and as many of them lived at points remote 
from the mission schools, the most feasible plan to se- 
cure their instruction was to establish a school in connec- 
tion with the church, where they could be gathered, the 
additional expense of their coming to Canton to be paid, 
in case of necessity, by the church. The elders were 
chosen as a board of directors, and the school put in 



Christian Giving and Self-Support. 399 

successful operation. During these years, the church 
was being steadily advanced toward a point which the 
pastor was most anxious to reach, the point of entire 
self-support. Many doubts and misgivings filled his 
mind, but the opportune time for putting the matter to 
a practical test came as he was about to leave the station 
for a year's rest. The church had been fully instructed 
in the matter to come before them; so that when the 
day for the general meeting arrived, all were in anxious 
expectancy as to the result. Three questions were put 
successively to the people, namely: "Is it your desire 
to call a native pastor?" to which an unanimous re- 
sponse in the affirmative was given ; '* Are you pre- 
pared to choose such a pastor to-day?" to which the 
same reply was given, and ballots taken up which re- 
sulted in the unanimous choice of Kwan-Loy, a licen- 
tiate of the Presbytery and an elder of the church. 
This being settled, the great question of all was then 
put: "Are you ready to guarantee his salary in full?" 
The answer was not immediately given; but after due 
deliberation it came in the shape of a promise to pay 
him a salary larger by one third than he had been 
receiving as a preacher from the Mission. He was or- 
dained and installed in the presence of a large congre- 
gation. Pastor and people are working in harmony, 
and the church prospering under the new arrangement, 
constant additions to the membership being received. 
These results have come after seven years' patient, per- 
sistent instruction ; in that period the church has grown 
from a membership of forty-seven to over two hundred, 
not counting nearly one hundred who have during that 



400 The Cross and the Dragon. 

time died or joined in the foundation of other churches. 
While the membership has increased fourfold, the 
contributions have increased twenty-fold. The pastor 
and elders are all active, aggressive men, filled with the 
spirit of progressive Christianity in the practical sense 
of the term. Their exhortations to the church are in 
fullest harmony with the most liberal spirit. While the 
leading elder urges them to do liberal things to prove 
that the Gospel has a deeper hold on them than idolatry 
has on their benighted countrymen, the pastor im- 
presses their duty to support the cause of Christ, by 
saying, " We pray for the extension of Christ's kingdom ; 
but unless we give of our means to assist in the work, 
we offend God by such prayers." 

In the district southwest the Presbyterian church in 
Chik-hom has become self-supporting. Small in num- 
bers, they have shown great devotion, and have assumed 
the rent of the chapel in which they meet, and the 
support of a preacher. If help comes to them, as it 
should, from Chinese Christians in America, many of 
whom are from that vicinity, a large and influential 
church, maintained entirely by native support, will arise 
in that town. 

The church of the London Mission in Hong-Kong 
has called a native pastor, and gives liberally to other 
churches. It supports the work of that Mission in Fat- 
Shan, where a strong church has grown up. In the 
Baptist Mission the evidences of self-reliance are encour- 
aging. In the city of Tsing-uen, a church has been 
organized, and a native pastor settled, his whole sup- 
port being guaranteed by the natives. In the Tsung-fa 



Christian Giving and Self-Support 401 

district a small company of Christians, with help from 
the native Church in Canton, secured a lot and built a 
place of worship. They were mobbed and persecuted, 
but persevered in their course until their enemies were 
defeated and gave them peaceful possession of their 
property. Entirely under native direction, this church 
is growing in numbers and influence. For many years 
the church of this Mission in Canton has had a Chinese 
Missionary Society, organized for the extension of work 
by the natives, under which stations have been opened 
in various places and preachers sustained. Their chief 
work has been the erection of a chapel in Canton, at 
an expense of over one thousand dollars, secured by 
subscriptions from Chinese Christians in Demerara, 
America, and elsewhere. It was partially destroyed by 
a mob, but is now rebuilt and occupied. 

These instances of active effort by the native Church, 
increasing every year, are proof that cannot be denied 
that the power of the Gospel is taking deep hold upon 
the people; and the indications are that erelong the 
Chinese Christians will support liberally all the institu- 
tions of the Church. The results already attained are 
the pledge that the Church will not only become self- 
supporting but actively aggressive. 

Various methods are adopted to secure systematic 
contributions from the churches, and to bring the matter 
of liberal giving to the cause of Christ as a practical 
duty before them, and make them know that giving is 
a part of worship. Besides frequent exhortations from 
the pulpit, small treatises are prepared and distributed, 
and personal application made to each member in 

26 



402 The Cross and the Dragon. 

behalf of various objects. Printed forms, with the 
different objects to which idolatry compels their gifts 
marked down, are circulated, and each member re- 
quested, in recognition of his own individual obligation, 
to make a note to this effect: "Formerly, I gave so 
much a year for incense, wax- candles, good-luck paper, 
sacrifices at the tombs, etc. I now will give so much 
in the worship of Jesus." This brings the two into 
vivid contrast, and leads to a practical perception of 
what their duty is. 

Two principles are usually laid down, and made the 
basis of every precept in this matter. The first is that 
in the matter of Christian giving, no one should fall 
short of the sum previously given in the worship of 
false gods. With due consideration of all the difficulties 
already mentioned in this connection, and the difference 
of motives prompting the giver, this principle, kindly 
urged, seldom fails to call forth a favorable response 
from the people. Their motives in becoming Christians 
are tested, and the true relationship in which they stand 
to the Master set forth. They believe in Him, not for 
the sake of saving money ; He has a right to all they 
possess ; and their service to Him should be marked by a 
spirit of generosity far beyond anything seen in the lives 
of the heathen around them. When in the service of 
error they held not back what was demanded of them, 
now in the service of the truth it should be their glory 
and their joy to outdo the past in cheerful service to 
the Lord. This line of argument, judiciously urged, has 
great influence. The second principle laid down is that 
one tenth of one's income is the least that should be 



Christian Giving and Self-Suppori. 403 

given. This standard of the Old Testament is, we know, 
superseded by that of the New Testament, which re- 
quires the full consecration of all. Still, even its require- 
ments have never been fully accepted and carried out in 
practice by any body of Christians. We hold it to be 
the least that is expected, and find that its justness 
meets with a very ready response, although in actual 
practice but few live up to it. Precept, however, is 
not sufficient; an example must be given them; and 
missionaries themselves must exhibit, in practical life, 
their adherence to the principle they lay down. It will 
do but little good for us to urge them to give one tenth, 
while we give one fiftieth or, perhaps more frequently, 
but the one hundredth part of our incomes. I know it 
is sometimes argued that missionaries have given up 
home, country, and in some cases positions of eminence, 
and that such sacrifices should be counted in their gifts 
to the Lord ; but the Chinese cannot be expected to ap- 
preciate or even understand the nature of such acts of 
self-denial, if self-denial there be. They know us to be 
in the receipt of a certain income, and should be assured 
that we set aside as large a proportion of it for the Lord as 
we ask them to do in their own cases. It is to be feared 
that the precept, "Let not your right hand know what 
your left hand doeth," has been wrested from its legiti- 
mate application, and made to mean, " Let not your right 
hand know how little your left hand gives." Some are 
content to lay down the precept, and think it strange 
that the native Christians do not immediately follow it. 
Some who condemn the Chinese as illiberal would, if 
investigation were made, be found to give much less, in 



404 The Cross and the Dragon. 

proportion to their income, than the poorest of these 
people. I am persuaded that the precept has lost 
much of its power hitherto, from lack of a consistent 
example. Some, who wish to excuse the small results, 
say that the water in the stream cannot rise to a higher 
level than its source, meaning, by the source, teachers 
from Christian lands, from whom they have received 
the truth. Accepting this interpretation of the figure, 
many of them have not only risen to a level with the 
source, but above it. This figure, which we continue 
to use, has, however, a deeper meaning: the source of 
all Gospel truth and Christian life is in Christ, and 
not until the measure of His complete self-sacrifice is 
reached, can any one be said to have attained the full 
standard of Christian benevolence. We are sent to hold 
forth the teachings and example of Christ, and may 
not be satisfied with any weak imitation of our own 
imperfections. Our examples become of the first im- 
portance as helping toward the attainment of the higher 
standard of Christ's own life ; hence missionaries must 
not only be good teachers and preachers, but, by prac- 
tical, systematic giving, show, in concrete form, the 
standard we wish them to attain. 

The Chinese need the stimulus of a definite object in 
all their contributions. To them the Missions, with their 
multiplicity of agencies, seem abundantly supplied with 
funds, so that an appeal for contributions for the gen- 
eral work is likely to meet with but a faint response ; 
but a definite object, in the shape of a colporteur, a 
Bible-woman, a chapel, a school, or — as we hope will 
soon be the case with them all — a native pastor to 



Christian Giving and Self-Stipport. 405 

support, calls forth their heartiest response. It is also a 
great encouragement for them to know how the funds 
are expended, in the various objects specified. Great 
prudence is required in bestowing praise, to prevent dis- 
couragement and incite to greater effort on the one hand, 
yet not produce self-satisfaction on the other. They are 
slow and plodding by nature, and every inch of prog- 
ress made is by patient, continuous effort. They mani- 
fest real docility in the matter, and when the true motives 
of Christian giving are clearly perceived are often most 
zealous in their efforts. 

A comparison of results in every mission will show 
a great advance in the last few years. The sentiment 
that has been created and fostered, and the zeal that has 
been manifested by the leading men among them, show 
that the matter has taken deep root. They fully ap- 
preciate the fact that China can never be evangelized 
wholly by missionaries from other lands, or the work 
carried on by funds from outside sources, and know the 
mighty work that rests upon the native Church. They 
know that its very existence — much more its triumphant 
spread over the land — depends upon the zeal and ag- 
gressive efforts of the native members. This feeling is 
deepening every day, and is rendered stronger by the 
example of the Christians in Swatow, Amoy, Shan-tung, 
and elsewhere. Canton will not long remain behind in 
the race. This subject is zealously urged by missionaries 
and native pastors; and a deep interest is gradually 
growing up, and their real devotion beginning to appear. 
They no longer reply to our appeals, " We arc only 
babes ; you cannot expect us to walk before we have 



Christian Giving and Self-Support. 407 

learned to stand alone, or to run until we have learned 
to walk." They are becoming ashamed of their pro- 
longed period of infancy ; and are making honest efforts 
not only to stand, but to walk, and even run, in the 
great race of Christian liberality. We have not the 
cheering record of stations further north : we cannot 
point to any one who has given $14,000 to a Christian 
college, as did Mr. Ah-Hok in Foochow; we have no 
wealthy man who supports several churches by his own 
contributions, as I believe they have nearAmoy; but 
we have many who give one tenth of all they receive 
to the Lord, and some who exceed this proportion. 
Lo-Kwan, in the church at Chik-hom, receives five 
dollars a month, and gives one fifth to the church ; a 
Christian in the Hawaiian Islands supports a school and 
chapel in his native town, in the northeast portion of 
Canton province ; A-fat, a Cantonese, now in the island 
of Tahiti, receives twenty-five dollars a month, and 
spends twenty of it in Christian work. Their gifts can- 
not compare in amount to the magnificent sums received 
into the treasury of the Lord in Christian lands, but 
their mites often mean more than the millions of others. 
They often respond instantly to the call of duty. After 
a sermon on "The Widow's Mite," — in which the lesson 
was urged that her example was not to be taken as an 
excuse for giving little, but as showing our duty to give 
much, even all we had, to the Lord, — two peasant 
women came to my study, said they had been impressed 
by the words spoken, and brought their gifts to the 
Lord, — a dollar each, relatively equal to ten dollars in 
America, and far more to them in their poverty than 



4o8 The Cross and the Dragon. 

hundreds to many in Christian lands. Their tens count 
for more than the hundreds of many, and their dollars 
for more than the tens of many in the churches of 
America; while their pennies are often equal to the 
dollars of home lands. So that while the sums in the 
aggregate may seem small, yet, considering the circum- 
stances of the people, they show a true spirit of conse- 
cration. To me the indications of the generous and 
wide-spread support of the Gospel by the Christians in 
Canton are most evident. They are as yet few in num- 
ber, scattered hither and thither, in trying circumstances, 
without control of business or property ; there are no 
men of even moderate means among them ; but their 
number is increasing, and their influence being widely 
felt. When they are more firmly established and can 
concentrate their energies, greater things will come. 
The vast sums now expended on heathenism are indi- 
cations of the gifts that will flow into the bosom of the 
Church when the religious longings that prompt such 
worship find satisfaction in the Gospel of Jesus. The 
readiness with which men of wealth endow monasteries 
and subsidize the priesthood, shows that, when the spirit 
of true religion seizes them, they will turn their wealth 
toward hospitals, schools, and all the benevolent institu- 
tions that spring up in the wake of the Gospel. Their 
innate pride will spur them on in the work of self- 
support. Many of the teachers and the preachers feel 
keenly the sneers of the people, who speak of them as 
the hirelings of the foreigner, and the Church as the 
sect of the outside barbarians. This scorn of the world, 
however unjust it may be, tends to drive them to a 



Christian Giving and Self -Support. 409 

course of independence and self-reliance, that they may 
escape the reproach of being merely the beneficiaries 
of outside people. 

In the Christian Church of Canton there are all the 
elements of strength, namely, intellect, scholarship, wis- 
dom, eloquence, aptness to teach, and true consecration. 
There are men tried by severest tests, women of ac- 
knowledged piety and devotion; men who are well 
fitted to be leaders, and women who would suffer mar- 
tyrdom if necessity required ; a body of sober, earnest, 
and devout Christians, who know what their profession 
means, and are ever ready to bear their witness to the 
faith in all sincerity. With their talents, energy, and 
zeal, comes this fuller sacrifice which devotes their per- 
sons and property to the Lord, — a consecration still 
far from complete, but even now made in such a manner 
as to insure its full bestowment. 



4IO The Cross and the Dragon, 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CRITICISMS OF TRAVELLERS, AND ROMAN CATHOLIC 

MISSIONS. 

AS the work of missions in Canton is viewed by- 
transient visitors from Western lands, or by those 
who reside for a longer or a shorter period in the cities 
of the South, I have observed three stages of feeling or 
conviction, three progressive steps which their minds 
make as they study the subject. To the stranger, who 
visits for the first time the populous districts of South 
China, and looks for some striking outward indication 
of what has been done in the work of missions, the 
first feeling that comes over him is, most likely, one of 
disappointment and surprise at what he considers the 
lack of results. He has read accounts of mission work ; 
he knows, from official records, the number of mission- 
aries and native agents engaged, and the thousands of 
converts reported; but as he steps ashore and passes 
through the narrow, crowded streets of the great cities, 
he sees no evidence of what has been done. No church 
spires rise above the low lines of houses, except those of 
the French Cathedral that tower over all ; he meets no 
throngs of children on their way to or from the Chris- 
tian schools ; but sees idolatry in full sway, evidences 
of superstition and degradation painfully abundant on 



Criticisms of Travellers, 411 

every hand. He looks at this unchecked tide of hea- 
thenism, but sees nothing of that crystal stream of 
Christian influences, which is flowing too ; and the feel- 
ing settles down upon his mind, that the results have 
been exaggerated, and that, in fact, very little, if any- 
thing, has been accomplished ; and if his stay be a 
short one, and he be not provided with the means of 
knowing what is being done, he will probably depart 
with the unhappy conviction that missions in Canton 
are a failure. I have known of such cases ; many, I 
might say the majority of travellers from Europe and 
America, receive only this first impression, and either 
from ignorance or disinclination, never go beyond what 
they see at the first glance on the surface. 

Those who remain a longer period and study the 
subject more deeply, often pass into a second stage of 
thought in the matter. As they go about among the 
people, and become, in a measure, familiar with their 
manners and customs, their mode of life and moral 
state ; as they see the power of superstition, the dense 
ignorance and pitiable degradation of the people; as 
they learn the false and, in many cases, frightful notions 
they have in regard to the customs and morality of 
Christian people, and the appalling amount of prejudice 
which even the more enlightened have against the Gos- 
pel as a foreign thing, a feeling of despair comes over 
them, and they are persuaded that however well-meant 
the eff"orts of the missionaries, and however earnest 
and zealous these efl"orts may be, their cause is hope- 
less. It seems to them impossible to move such masses 
in the state of moral and spiritual deadness in which 



412 The Cross and the Dragon. 

we find the Chinese. I have known many, especially 
among those engaged in diplomatic and commercial 
pursuits, possessed of such feelings. 

There is, however, a third stage, which those whose 
hearts are truly enlisted in the welfare of their fellow- 
men invariably reach. By inquiry, they readily find 
the missionaries, and are soon familiar with the great 
agencies at work. They learn of the churches, some 
of which in their numbers and vigorous life compare 
well with those of other lands ; they learn of the scores 
of chapels open for daily preaching, of scores of schools 
for boys and girls, with thousands of pupils in attend- 
ance, of hospitals whose annual attendance of patients 
is counted by tens of thousands; they learn of the 
practical power of the Gospel in the lives of thousands 
of Chinese Christians ; and as these evidences of vigor- 
ous life in this vine, which God's own hand has planted, 
and the ever-growing influence of Christianity are seen, 
in spite of all the difficulties there are to contend with, 
the feeling that comes over them is not one of disap- 
pointment and surprise at the little that has been done, 
nor of despair at the hopeless prospect of doing anything, 
but of wonder and of gratitude that so much has been 
accomplished, and that the outlook for the future is so 
bright and cheering. 

The Church depends, to a great extent, for her infor- 
mation concerning what is done, on the reports of those 
who have made journeys, more or less hasty, through 
the lands where her missions are established. These 
travellers come in great numbers every year, and, in 
many cases, barely glance at the cities and countries 



Criticisms of Travellers. 413 

passed, and then consider themselves authorities on 
all subjects pertaining to them. 

"Did you see anything of mission-work in Canton?" 
" Oh, yes ; my guide, who spoke very good pidgin- 
English, told me there were some ' Joss-pidgin men,' as 
he called them, there; but from his account I infer that 
they were not doing much." 

" Did you meet any of these missionaries?" 
*' No ; but the Captain of the steamer told me that 
the people laughed at them ; that they would baptize 
a man one day, and the next he would be arrested for 
stealing." 

" Did you see anything of their schools or churches?" 
" I don't think they have any schools ; and the only 
church I saw was the French Cathedral. Come to 
think, I did go, for a few minutes, to a hospital, where 
there was such a crowd of dirty people coming for 
medicine that I was glad to get away." 

This is a specimen of how they become familiar with 
mission-work. Ignorance is at the bottom of most of 
the false reports so widely circulated. They have but 
a few days to spend ; and, as is natural, think more of 
seeing the temples, curio-shops, and manufactures of 
the city, than of studying mission-work. No one would 
complain of this, if they did not set themselves up as 
authorities. They ply the steamer captain with ques- 
tions, and he is only a trifle less ignorant on the subject 
than themselves, but is full of all sorts of tales and scan- 
dals, not one in a hundred of which has the slightest 
foundation. His position seldom permits him time to go 
into the city ; and all he knows is the merest hearsay, 



414 ^^^ Cross and the Drafron. 



and when, by chance, he gets hold of a solid fact or an 
authentic account of work done, it is perhaps fifteen or 
twenty years old, and has long since been outlived and 
left far in the rear in the rapid progress of the work. 
Recommended to some merchant-house, the traveller 
makes inquiries of his host, who is often scarcely more 
enlightened than the men on the steamer. His inter- 
course with the natives is confined to his compradores, 
his silk or tea merchants, and others who come to 
him in the line of his business. His travels into the 
city take him no farther than the shops of these mer- 
chants, or an occasional visit to some large temple, or to 
the White Cloud Hills to the east of the city. He passes, 
it may be, a chapel or two on his way, but knows no 
more than that a crowd is usually seen, coming and 
going at the door, and many seated inside listening to 
a man talking. Furnished with a professional guide, the 
most unreliable person he could apply to, he is sup- 
plied with a jumble of facts and fancies utterly useless. 
Common-sense dictates, that to learn the state of com- 
merce, you should go to the merchants ; to know the 
exact relations which nations sustain to each other, 
go to the diplomatic representatives ; and to know the 
facts concerning mission-work, apply to the mission- 
aries themselves, or those well informed on the subject. 
Most of the foreign residents, absorbed as they are in 
their special lines of business, are utterly indifferent to 
the work of missions. The assertion has been made, 
and its truth I am not disposed to doubt, that not more 
than half a dozen of the residents^ outside the mission- 
ary body, have ever been inside a mission church or 



Criticisms of Travellers, 415 

school, and that not more than half a score of them 
know anything of the practical operations of mission- 
work. This is not said in the way of complaint or 
condemnation of their course, but simply as the state- 
ment of a fact not always kept in mind. They are not 
in a position to know, and therefore cannot give intelli- 
gent judgment as to the success, or otherwise, of the 
enterprise. A very few are hostile, and show their 
dislike, not by studying the facts and exposing the 
weak points of this system of Christian work, but by 
repeating all the silly tales disseminated by designing 
persons, by holding up isolated cases of inconsistency, 
or dwelling upon the hypocrisy of some native convert, 
who no doubt was excluded from the church long before 
the story of his duplicity reached their ears. This 
method of backbiting and calumny has been a favorite 
mode of attacking missions in the East, while there has 
been no discussion of principles, no comparison of 
results. Some of the residents take a decided interest in 
what is done, and are ever warm in their support and 
commendation. The views placed before the traveller 
will depend entirely upon the class of people he falls in 
with ; and if he be a man of sense, and treat this as he 
does other matters of business, he will accept only the 
testimony of those whose knowledge of the facts war- 
rants their speaking with authority. Every sea-captain 
has a fund of stories which he relates, for not one 
of which has he a grain of positive proof They have 
been repeatedly exposed, but this docs not prevent 
their being told with fresh zest to each new-comer. 
Every young clerk has a slur to cast on missions, a 



4i6 The Cross and the Dragon. 

subject of which he is as profoundly ignorant as of the 
materials composing the mountains of Mars. Beyond 
a temporary annoyance, these calumnies do not affect 
the missionary in his work. In most cases he remains 
in ignorance of what is being said of him, and regarding 
the source of the criticism, when it is heard, treats it 
accordingly. 

This ignorance of what is going on is not confined 
to merchants and others in secular employments, but 
even clergymen, who come as temporary visitors or as 
residents for a longer period, sometimes fail to inform 
themselves on the subject. One clerical gentleman, 
not a missionary, held a chaplaincy in Canton for three 
years, but at the end of that period was as ignorant of 
the status of mission-work as when he came. Having 
occasion to visit Japan, he became the guest of a mis- 
sionary there, and was actually brought into contact 
with his host's work, in which he became interested. 
Returning to Canton, he dilated upon what he had seen 
in Japan, and criticised the course of the Canton mis- 
sionaries. Close inquiry revealed the fact that the state 
of things which in Japan called forth his admiration 
not only existed in Canton, but in a much more advanced 
and wide-spread form ; the fact being, that he had never 
taken the trouble to inquire into school-work, hospital- 
work, or any of the dozen branches of Christian effort 
constantly carried forward ; and was about to return to 
his native land after three years' residence, — and would 
of course be regarded as an authority on such subjects, 
— without knowing in the least the condition of things. 
Another clergyman from Singapore spent two weeks in 



Criticisms of Travellers, 417 

Canton ; but in that time he had not made the acquaint- 
ance of a single missionary, or seen the inside of one of 
the fifteen chapels, or heard of one of the fourscore 
schools. He had, however, seen the execution ground, 
and secured the skull of a criminal as a memento ; and 
announced his purpose of writing a book on Canton, 
which, coming from the pen of a clergyman, must, of 
course, contain authentic accounts of missions. Such 
indifference and wilful ignorance on the part of Christian 
men is culpable in the extreme. Simple justice to all 
concerned requires that they possess themselves of facts 
derived from authentic sources, before they give forth 
dogmatic opinions on such important matters. 

The relations existing between the missionaries and 
other foreign residents is in the main friendly : many are 
on the footing of close and cordial friendship with each 
other; with others the acquaintance is of a less intimate 
character, but pleasant ; while a few on both sides hold 
aloof. Constant intercourse has shown the Chinese that 
there are good and bad in all nations ; and while some 
still take the dissolute lives of certain men from Western 
lands as the practical exponents of Christianity, yet the 
constant teaching of the " pure and undefiled religion," 
and the godly examples of its adherents, are gradually 
counteracting such false conceptions. It still remains 
a fact that in almost every case where men express 
contempt or dislike for missionaries and their work, 
their own lives are such as to receive constant re- 
buke and condemnation from the pure teachings of 
the Gospel. Many years ago, Darwin, who cannot 
be considered as biassed in favor of missions, gave his 

27 



41 8 The Cross and the Dragon, 

unqualified judgment as to their beneficent effects, and 
denounced in strongest terms their traducers. These 
are his significant words in reference to the South Sea 
Islands : — 

" There are many who attack, even now, more acrimoniously 
than Kotzebue, both the missionaries, their system, and the 
effects produced by it. Such reasoners never compare the pres- 
ent state with that of the Islands only twenty years ago, nor 
even with that of Europe in this day ; but they compare it with 
the high standard of Gospel perfection. They expect the mis- 
sionary to effect that which the Apostles themselves failed to do. 
Inasmuch as the condition of the people falls short of this high 
standard, blame is attached to the missionary, instead of credit 
for what he has effected. They forget, or will not remember, 
that human sacrifices and the power of an idolatrous priesthood ; 
a system of profligacy unparalleled in any other part of the 
world ; infanticide, a consequence of this system ; bloody wars, 
where conquerors spared neither women nor children, — that 
all these have been abolished ; and that dishonesty, intemper- 
ance, and licentiousness have been greatly reduced by the intro- 
duction of Christianity. In a voyager, to forget these things 
is base ingratitude ; for, should he chance to be at the point of 
shipwreck on some unknown coast, he will devoutly pray that 
the lesson of the missionary may have extended thus far. . . . 
But it is useless to argue against such reasoners. I believe that, 
disappointed in not finding the field of licentiousness quite so 
open as formerly, they will not give credit to a morality which 
they do not wish to practise, or to a religion which they under- 
value or despise." 

Ever ready to abide by the sober judgment of un- 
biassed men familiar with the facts, we protest against 
the shallow criticism and false statements of those who 
are ignorant of that whereof they speak, or are incapable 



Roman Catholic Missions. 419 

of forming a just opinion on matters of such vital interest 
to the Church as her foreign mission-work. 

The relations of Protestant missions to those of the 
Romish Church are at present more prominent in theory 
than in practical work, the methods of work being dif- 
ferent and the points of contact few. Since the days 
of Matteo Ricci, who reached Canton in 1582, the 
Romish missions have continued, subject to many vicis- 
situdes. The policy of their founders has given tone 
to their whole subsequent course. Concealing their real 
object, they obtained permission to build houses, and 
thus secured a permanent foothold. Entering Shiu- 
hing, the capital of the province at that time, they 
assured the governor that " they had at last ascertained 
that the Celestial Empire was even superior to its own 
brilliant renown. They therefore desired to end their 
days in it, and wished to obtain a little land to construct 
a house and a church, where they might spend their 
time in prayer and study, in solitude and meditation, 
which they could not do at Macao on account of the 
tumult and bustle which the perpetual activity of com- 
merce occasioned." This method of conceahng their 
true aim has ever characterized their actions ; and by 
the use of such means they have acquired footholds in 
all parts of the province. Beginning at Shiu-hing, they 
have spread north, east, south, and west. For two hun- 
dred and fifty years before the introduction of Protestant 
missions, they worked; but the present exhibition of 
their success is not at all commensurate with the time, 
the men, and the means expended. In Canton, after 
three hundred years, the number of their converts, 



420 



The Cross and the Dragon. 



according to their own records, is twenty thousand, as 
against seven thousand, or nearly that number, in Prot- 
estant missions, after forty years of work. 




THE GODDESS OF MERCY. 



Their use of the word Tien-chu, for " God," has won 
for them the name of "The Church of the Heavenly 
Lord ; " while Protestants are universally known as " The 



Roman Catholic Missions, 421 

Church of Jesus," a distinction we are quite ready to 
accept. The evidences of great success in past periods 
are seen in many places, notably Hainan, where the 
graves of many converts, with those of their priests, 
are found, indicating a large following, which Chinese 
records confirm, and state that at one time they num- 
bered a prefect and other high officers among their 
converts. They have almost entirely disappeared from 
that island, the present missions there having no con- 
nection historically with the old. In many places their 
numbers are kept up simply by the natural increase of 
the people, the girls being permitted to marry only co- 
religionists, and the young men compelling their wives 
to adopt their faith. Their presence in Canton is in- 
stantly known by the beautiful cathedral now approach- 
ing completion, after a period of more than twenty 
years since the foundations were laid. It is an object 
of pride to the Romanists, but of hatred to the Chinese, 
who regard the action of the French in securing the 
fine location in which it stands, in restitution for prop- 
erty destroyed in the interior, as a piece of high-handed 
injustice ; and more than once the place has required 
a guard of soldiers to protect it from mob violence. 
The priests, of whom there are twenty in the province, 
all adopt Chinese dress, and often penetrate far into the 
interior. Some of them are earnest, self-denying men, 
submitting to hardship willingly, and spending their lives 
in toilsome service for others. They work in secret and 
often by underhand means, never allowing the people 
or the magistrates to suspect their purposes until they 
have gained their ends. They have no public chapels or 



42 2 The Cross and the Dragon, 

preaching-halls. One of their prominent members came 
to me with the request that I would permit him to preach 
in my city chapel, stating the various points of doctrine 
on which we agreed, and assuring me that he would 
carefully avoid introducing any of their peculiar tenets. 
The reason given for this unusual request was, that in 
his own church he had no opportunity of proclaiming 
the doctrines he beheved. He had called the attention 
of the priests to the great influence the Protestants were 
gaining by the method of daily preaching in their nu- 
merous chapels, and suggested the advisability of their 
opening a hall near the great cathedral, where people 
might be taught their doctrines. He was rebuffed by the 
priest, whose whole attention was concentrated on the 
cathedral, which, in some magical way, was to convert 
the people to the faith of Rome ; and burning with a 
desire to tell what he knew, he applied to us. The 
workings of their system were shown in his previous 
operations. A man of fine physique, good mind, and 
fluent tongue, he had been employed in various mis- 
sions, in the performance of which, to use his own 
expression, he " had laid up large stores of merit that 
would secure him honors in the next world." The 
province of Kwong-si has been most rigidly closed 
against them, as against Protestants, and Mr. Kong was 
sent to effect a foothold in it. Entering the southwest 
border, he reached an inland town, where he gave out 
to the people that he was a merchant from Foochow, 
in quest of a quiet, respectable town in which to retire 
from business. The gentry became his friends, and 
urged him to settle among them, acting as his agents 



Roman Catholic Missions, 423 

in purchasing a desirable house and lot. When the 
transfer of the property was completed, he threw off 
his mask and announced his real character, to the cha- 
grin and the consternation of those who had aided him. 
This transaction was regarded by him as exceedingly 
meritorious. 

Their method of receiving converts is also different, 
as are the requirements made of them. The Bible is 
not placed in their hands, only a short catechism, the 
repetition of which secures their reception. The wor- 
ship of saints and images makes it an easy transition 
from idolatry to the practices of the Romish Church. 
Instances are given where the original idol is retained, 
but rechristened as St. Joseph, in place of Kwan-Kung, 
or the Holy Mother, in place of Koon-yam. The priests 
assume political control over their converts, and assist 
them in litigations before the magistrates. This draws 
a certain class of people to seek their help ; and the 
readiness with which they respond to such applications 
shows the evils of their pohcy. Near one of our out- 
stations a quarrel was going on between two clans in an 
adjacent village. The weaker party, finding themselves 
in danger of losing their cause, sought the assistance of 
the French priest, saying they would join his church 
if he gave them the assistance required. He baptized 
about thirty of them, and undertook their cause, but 
was unable to fulfil his promise of help. The case went 
against them ; and, considering themselves duped by the 
priest, they swore vengeance against him. Passing near 
the place one day, I met a man dressed as a scholar, 
who accosted me with the words, "Are you a French 



424 The Cross and the Dragon, 

priest?" ''No," I replied. "It is well for you that you 
are not," he said ; " for the people in the village yonder 
say they will kill him when they catch him." I assured 
him I was a preacher of Jesus, and had nothing to do 
with the priests ; and directed him to my chapel, near 
by, where he could at any time hear the doctrines of 
Jesus expounded. 

In the district of Ying-tak the Wesleyans have had 
much trouble on account of their interference. They 
have worked directly and indirectly to win their con- 
verts away, but have been foiled in their efforts, except 
in the cases of a few who were only inquirers. Their 
presence in this district, and their practice of assisting 
their adherents in official cases, have led the mission- 
aries to put up public notices in their chapels, declaring 
that the two churches are entirely distinct, and that no 
person would be permitted to use the name of the mis- 
sionary, or that of any of his assistants, in any affair 
before the mandarins. 

As a rule, however, working on entirely different lines, 
we seldom come into contact, much less into collision. 
The situations of their schools and churches are not gen- 
erally known, and their converts are under no obligation 
to proclaim their character to others. All this is so con- 
trary to the free and open profession of Protestants, that 
there is very httle in common between us. Their con- 
verts at the present time are not of so high or renowned 
a character as some in the earlier days, when Paul, Can- 
dida, Agatha, and others, were shining lights, and really 
wonderful for their fidelity to their religion and the 
benevolence shown in the exercise of it, as well as for 



Roman Catholic Missions. 425 

their high position. Many of their intelHgent people have 
left the Church which closes the door of knowledge, 
refuses the Scriptures to the people, and hides its light 
from the masses, and joined the Church of Jesus. In 
the earlier years there was constant confusion of the 
two churches, not only in public documents, but in 
the minds of the people, and the followers of Jesus were 
everywhere called "the sect of the Heavenly Lord;" 
but now the distinction is recognized by the greater part 
of the people, and will be still better understood as the 
light from the schools and churches, spread so freely, 
reaches the people. 

Unless the Church of Rome changes her policy, there 
is not much hope of her doctrines becoming prevalent 
to any wide extent. Relying, as they do, upon the 
arm of political power, their progress everywhere as- 
sumes the shape of a political movement to a great 
degree. Their converts are chiefly bound to them by 
the hope of political protection, and are constantly 
bringing them into collision with the mandarins. The 
Chinese officials may ignore or tolerate this state of 
things to a certain extent, but anything like a general 
recognition of political power in the hands of the 
priests can never be attained. Did they rely more on 
the doctrines they teach, or even on their supposed 
miraculous powers, there would be more hope; but 
protection before the officials is the great attraction 
offered, and this must certainly limit their success to 
a comparatively small compass. 

Protestants have little to learn from them, and less to 
fear; and while admiring the courage and self-sacrifice 



426 The Cross and the Drago7i. 



of many devoted men who have plunged into the 
unknown interior and there worn out their Hves, we avoid 
their methods, and appeal to none but the purest mo- 
tives in winning men for Christ, still trusting that, in 
the flocks gathered by these self-denying priests, there 
may be many who, through the imperfect light brought 
them, have been led to a true knowledge of the Lord of 
all and Jesus, His Son, our Divine Redeemer. 



Teaching English, 427 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TEACHING ENGLISH. 

'T^HE question of teaching English to the Chinese, 
as a phase of mission-work, is one whose im- 
portance no one can deny, nor can it be answered 
decidedly in the affirmative or the negative without 
careful consideration of its manifold bearings. It is not 
a new question which has arisen in late years, but one 
which is as old as the missionary enterprise in China, 
and one which has come up again and again in the 
course of missionary work for the Chinese, never ex- 
actly in the same form, it is true, but always modified 
more or less by the state of popular feeling or the 
demands of the time. 

In the earlier days of mission-work, every means that 
would bring the missionary into closer relationship with 
the people, or afford more favorable opportunity of 
communicating Christian truth, had to be made use of; 
and the teaching of English was made the pretext, as is 
done in California and other places to-day, for inculcat- 
ing higher teaching, — the entering wedge to prepare 
the way for the introduction of the Gospel; and the 
Chinese, for purposes of trade and other reasons, were 
glad to avail themselves of the offers of the missionary. 



428 The Cross and the Dragon, 

But in this respect, the circumstances are now entirely 
changed. The missionary needs no such adjunct to 
the more legitimate methods of work. Our work is 
firmly established ; we have every facility. Audiences 
await us in our chapels ; pupils crowd our schools where 
English is not taught; and new openings for work are 
constantly presenting themselves. We cannot begin to 
improve to the utmost the opportunities now afforded ; 
so that there is not the slightest necessity for holding 
out the teaching of English as a bait to secure favor 
with the people or increase our opportunities for work. 
And if the question were, *' Do we need to teach Eng- 
lish to aid us in our proper work as missionaries?" a 
decided negative would be given without the slightest 
hesitation. 

The importance of the matter from a Chinese point 
of view has also changed very materially. In the be- 
ginning the advantage of a knowledge of English was 
understood and appreciated by very few. The many 
considered the time spent in acquiring the foreigner's 
speech as wasted, and regarded such accomplishments 
with contempt. A comparatively few years sufficed to 
show the Chinese mercantile community, at least, espe- 
cially those who had dealings with foreigners, the great 
advantage of such acquirements, and a fresh stimulus 
was given to the study of English. As the demand 
for English-speaking Chinese increased, their services 
commanded higher remuneration, and many an enter- 
prising youth found that a knowledge of the despised 
foreigner's tongue was the golden key that unlocked 
the gate, and sent him speeding on his way to fortune. 



Teaching English, 429 

This demand filled and still fills the government schools 
of Hong-Kong with pupils ; it made and still makes 
the teaching of English in Canton a comparatively 
remunerative employment. The Chinese have thus 
advanced from the point of being willing to attend a 
free mission-school and receive a modicum of Chris- 
tian truth for the benefit of instruction in English, until 
they are now willing to pay, and in many cases to pay 
well, for their instruction. They are so far, however, 
only moved by mercenary considerations ; they regard 
it purely in a business light, and are willing to pay a 
moderate sum for what will bring them greater profit 
in the end. There is among this class no desire for the 
knowledge of the language for its own sake, or for any 
advantage to be gained from a literary point of view. 

Such, I take it, has been, in the main, the relation 
of the Chinese to the study of English until within 
a very recent period. Their feelings in regard to it 
have been, for the most part, purely mercenary; it has 
been a question of dollars and cents. The time and 
money spent in acquiring English have been so much 
capital invested, from which they expected to derive a 
great profit in their business. Of course there have 
been exceptions to this rule, but, in the main, I con- 
ceive that this has been their real bearing toward it. If 
this were still the case, and it were likely to continue so 
in the future, then the question as far as missions are 
concerned would be easily answered. It is not our 
place as missionaries to take the superintendence of 
commercial schools or identify ourselves with a course 
of work that is prompted and sustained by purely 



430 The Cross and the Dragon. 

mercenary considerations. If the question were merely, 
"■ Shall we assist the Chinese in acquiring a knowledge 
of English so that they may be better fitted to carry 
on business with foreigners ? " a simple and decided " No " 
would settle it. 

But the signs of the times, as read by the most casual 
observer, show it to be a much broader question than 
the foregoing views of it would show. It is evident to 
many that there is now a demand on the part of the 
Chinese for a knowledge of English, apart from any 
commercial consideration, — not merely the knowledge 
of how to read and write ; but for the advantage it gives 
them in the search after truth. This demand presents 
itself with two main sides, which for convenience may 
be termed the political side and the scientific side. The 
political side has reference to the Government and its 
servants, both in relation to their own people and to 
other nations. The establishment of legations in foreign 
courts, and consulates in many cities, was a great step 
in advance, as all will admit, — an unqualified departure 
from the customs of ages. If these are kept up, as they 
no doubt will be, a separate service will probably be 
established, and officers, properly trained and qualified, 
will be appointed to fill the posts. Among the require- 
ments for such a service, a knowledge of English will 
probably hold an important place, — not a superficial or 
mechanical knowledge merely, but such as will prepare 
its possessor for going more or less fully, as may be 
desirable, into the history, laws, and general literature 
of outside nations. This aspect of the question is very 
important in the present state of things, and will become 



Teaching English, 431 

more so as the relations between China and her neigh- 
bors become closer and more settled. 

But more important still is the scientific side of the 
question, which presents the English language as the 
vehicle for the introduction of Western sciences, both in 
their theoretical and practical forms, into China. The 
demands for such knowledge are increasing every day. 
There are many evidences of an awakening spirit of in- 
quiry. In the past there have been isolated individuals 
who have had independence of mind sufficient to lead 
them to strike off from the beaten tracks, and not to de- 
spise help from the outside " barbarians." These indi- 
viduals are becoming nuclei for still larger companies, 
who, with the thirst for the knowledge of living facts in 
place of worn-out theories, will push their investigations 
into the higher realms of scientific and philosophic re- 
search. China's intense conservatism has kept her back 
long enough; she cannot stand out much longer; she 
cannot forever resist the waves of progress that beat 
against her shores. There are movements and indica- 
tions which all who wish her well must hail with joy. 
There are disturbing elements at work in that mass of 
overwrought conservatism. The crust which ages has 
formed over them is breaking in places, and signs of life 
and progress begin to manifest themselves, even in this 
apparently dead and fossilized nation. We believe in a 
glorious future for China ; we believe she will yet again 
be, as she has been in the past, in the front rank of na- 
tions ; but there will be a complete revolution of thought 
and theory before this can take place. Already there 
are premonitions of such a revolution. It will be accom- 



432 The Cross and the Dragon, 

plished through the spread of truth, reHgious and scien- 
tific; the two must go together to make the change 
complete. But, as it has been elsewhere, so it will no 
doubt be here, that secular and scientific truth will ap- 
peal more directly and powerfully to the minds of the 
majority of the people than will religious truth. The 
time seems to have come when we can with perfect pro- 
priety, with great advantage to the cause of Christian 
missions, and with the fair hope of exerting a salutary 
influence upon the minds of educated Chinese, take steps 
toward giving them that knowledge of English which 
seems necessary to any adequate or accurate acquaint- 
ance with philosophic or scientific truth as developed in 
our day. The question is one which cannot be thrust 
aside as irrelevant ; it is entitled to a fair and favorable 
consideration, and as in Foochow and Shanghai, so in 
Canton, should receive a cordial affirmative answer. 
Special reasons urge this favorable answer. 

Because, in the first place, it comes to us now in a 
different shape from any it has assumed in the past. It 
is not merely the old question restated, but is in many 
respects an entirely new question. It includes, to a 
great extent, the broader and more important question 
of higher education, of assisting the Chinese to gain a 
knowledge of Western science and general culture. It 
brings us into relationship with a class of students who 
come for reasons which we can all approve. The old 
class, who come to learn only from mercenary motives, 
who acquire English as a part of their stock in trade, 
with which to make money more easily, still come, 
in larger numbers perhaps than ever before; but, in 



Teaching English, 433 

addition to them, is this other class, better and more 
hopeful ; real students they are, prompted not by a mere 
desire of gain, but seeking knowledge with something 
of the same spirit that characterizes men of intellect in 
other lands. They are students of political economy, 
students of natural philosophy, students of the arts of 
civilization, who have in some degree the genuine desire 
for the true and the useful. They present much more 
hopeful material to work upon than the sordid, grasping, 
mercenary lot that thrive in the treaty ports of China. 

Closely connected with this, and in some respects iden- 
tical with it, is the second consideration that should influ- 
ence our minds, namely, that there is a desire, more or 
less wide-spread, among intelligent Chinese to obtain 
this knowledge for its own sake, and for the sake of the 
facility it gives them in acquiring the treasures of wis- 
dom and practical truth which form the strength and 
glory of Christian lands. There are men of progress in 
China as well as elsewhere, men of independent thought, 
men of keen observation, who know and appreciate, if 
they do not publicly acknowledge, the superiority of 
Western learning, and at the same time are fully aware 
of the absurdity and puerility of many of their own 
theories and methods. The intercourse with foreigners 
in the past few decades has opened the eyes of those 
who have been brought into relationship with other 
peoples, and made them feel that they are far behind the 
rest of the world in more ways than one. Their national 
pride in many cases has been aroused, and a laudable 
desire to emulate the best that others have attained, has 
been awakened. These intelligent leaders of thought 

28 



434 ^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

among the people know that something must be done 
to bring them up abreast of other nations, and that one 
of the first things to be done is to put them on an equal 
footing as to knowledge and general intelligence with 
other nations. They begin to see that truth, and espe- 
cially in their case scientific truth, is universal and cos- 
mopolitan ; that it is not the peculiar property of any 
one nation or class of men, but that it belongs to all 
alike, and that there is no sacrifice of national or per- 
sonal dignity in acquiring it from whatever source it 
may most easily be obtained. This is one great step 
toward the breaking down of the barriers of exclusive- 
ness which have so long enclosed them. Their peculiar 
ignorance of anything and everything outside their own 
borders makes them peculiarly helpless and dependent 
upon others, now that they begin to feel the need of 
something better. They have sufficient penetration to 
see that the English language is a great conservatory of 
knowledge of all kinds, and that with a good under- 
standing of it, almost everything they want is at their 
command; hence the desire, more or less prevalent 
among them, for a knowledge of English. The more 
the advantage of such a knowledge is known and appre- 
ciated, the more wide-spread will become this desire. 
With many of them it is already a foregone conclusion 
that the cumbrous, stilted, and effete methods now in 
vogue must erelong give way to more approved and 
practical methods. 

It is also worthy of note that those who are foremost 
in advocating a change in this respect are also in favor 
of a liberal foreign policy, the introduction of the liberal 



Teaching English, 435 

arts, and liberal education according to the standard of 
Western nations. Many foresee that the men of mark and 
influence in the near future of China will be those who 
have the advantage of such liberal education ; and the 
feeling of many is expressed in the language of a scholar 
of note with whom I was speaking on the subject not 
long ago, and who said in his native dialect: " To have a 
familiar knowledge of foreign language and literature is 
better than to be a member of the Hanlin College." 
Such expressions are prophetic of the future. Those 
who can understand the drift of affairs see what is com- 
ing, and many of them hail it with joy and prepare for 
it accordingly. 

If we arc not mistaken in our view of this side of the 
question, it becomes a matter of considerable moment 
for us to decide what we shall do in regard to it. Shall 
we put our shoulders to the wheel, and help them for- 
ward in the line of progress and higher knowledge ; 
or shall we stand aside and let them work it out for 
themselves? It may be said that it is outside our prov- 
ince; that this desire for a knowledge of English has 
not sprung up in connection with our work as mission- 
aries, but is something extraneous. This, in a certain 
sense, may be true, but the case stands thus: they 
are in need of help in a particular direction, or at least 
would appreciate it; and we have it in our power to give 
that help. By giving it we do not waste our energies 
on sordid, thankless minds, but are dealing with men of 
intelligence and progressive ideas, men who will hold 
the balance of power in the future, and may be able 
to recompense us an hundred-fold for our labor and 



43^ The Cross and the Dragon, 

trouble for them. Since we have reason to believe 
that there is this commendable desire for a knowledge 
of our language for purposes which we cannot but re- 
joice in, it would seem to be the part of wisdom to give 
the matter the attention it requires, and, if possible, in- 
augurate some plan by which we can assist them, and 
through such means exert an influence for good upon 
the progressive mind of China. 

Another strong reason, as it appears to many, in 
favor of our doing something to help them now, is that 
if we do not undertake it, the Chinese themselves 
will make the move, and establish institutions from 
v/hich missionaries and Christian influences of every 
kind will be rigidly excluded. This is now the case 
in every school and college under their control, nor can 
we reasonably find fault with them for their course in 
the matter. If the desire for a knowledge of English is 
increasing, as we have reason to believe it is, if the ad- 
vantage of such knowledge is as great as it now appears 
to be, there can be no reasonable doubt that they will 
erelong take steps to inaugurate some efficient meas- 
ures for teaching that language. It is not that they 
have any special love for English-speaking people, or 
see any special beauty in the language itself, but be- 
cause it is necessary in order to acquire that knowledge 
of science and the practical arts which is the great de- 
sideratum with them now. The scientific works already 
translated into Chinese do not fully meet the demand. 
They are excellent as far as they go, but the translators 
labor under a great disadvantage for want of a full and 
uniform scientific vocabulary; and even if the list of 



Teaching English. 437 

terms were definitely settled by common consultation, 
many of them would be unintelligible to the ordinary 
student. Besides all this, modern science, in its full 
breadth, cannot well be compressed into the compass 
of a few text-books. It is very gratifying, as proof of 
their inquiring spirit, to see that medical works, scien- 
tific works, works on mechanics, on political economy, 
and international law, meet with such a ready sale 
among the people. These, however, give only a taste, 
and this taste which inquiring minds get from these 
books only arouses the desire to learn more. This 
desire for a fuller knowledge and more perfect training 
will lead to the invention of means to satisfy it. But 
the Chinese move slowly, and they have not yet seen 
their way clear to open, on any large scale, schools 
for such purposes. The Peking University and its 
branches, however efficiently managed, are not ade- 
quate to the purpose. The sending of young men to 
other countries to be trained is a step that looks to 
something more extensive in the future, but as yet no 
adequate provisions have been made. They will, how- 
ever, surely come to it. As surely as scientific truth 
exists, it will find its way among the educated people 
of China, and the day will come when colleges and uni- 
versities, where a liberal education, as it is understood in 
our own land, is given, will be established throughout 
the Empire. 

The practical issues at present centre in the question 
of teaching English; and mature deliberation has led, in 
two important centres at least, to the establishment of 
colleges, where this language is made the medium of 



43^ The Cross and the Dragon, 

education ; and the favor manifested toward them shows 
that their founders were not mistaken in their views 
of the demand for such education. Many other ques- 
tions relating to higher education are inseparably con- 
nected with such enterprises, and receive solution more 
or less satisfactory, as these schemes are modified and 
developed. The present seems to be an auspicious 
time to lay the foundation of true learning in the broad- 
est sense ; and every movement that aims, by legiti- 
mate means, at the general enlightenment of the people 
should be encouraged. 



A Christian College for Canton, 439 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A CHRISTIAN COLLEGE FOR CANTON. 

IF, in view of what has been said, it is deemed advisa- 
ble to meet our Chinese friends half-way, and pro- 
vide them with the means of acquiring the knowledge 
they desire, the practical question comes before us as 
to what plan it is best to pursue. How shall we set 
about the accomplishment of our purpose? As it ap- 
pears in its practical bearings, the experience of the 
past is of great benefit in showing what to avoid, as 
well as in suggesting feasible methods to be adopted. 
It is evident that it would not be advisable to attempt 
the teaching of English or science in any advanced 
form in our mission-schools already established. They 
should remain as they are, devoted entirely to instruc- 
tion through the medium of the Chinese language. 
Our mission-schools have one prominent and special 
object, — the teaching of Christian truth, — and the in- 
troduction of English would only be a disturbing and 
a distracting element. It would be bad for the pupils, 
because it would draw away their attention from other 
and better things. It would be bad for the teachers, 
because it would, if they arc Chinese, involve a long 
course of previous study before they could be fitted to 
assume such duties ; or, if they are foreigners, it would 



440 The Cross and the Dragon, 

consume much precious time and strength, with but 
little compensation. There can, no doubt, be great im- 
provements made both in the modes of teaching and in 
the books taught in our mission-schools, but not by the 
introduction of English. The class of pupils who come 
would not usually be promising material to work upon, 
nor would they remain a sufficient length of time to 
receive any permanent benefit. 

It does not seem wise, further, for those who are now 
engaged in active missionary work, to take it up in con- 
nection with their other duties. If this were done, I 
fear that one of three things would be the result : either 
the work would be done in such an indifferent way as 
not to amount to anything, and thus hinder real, efficient 
work ; or, if much time were devoted specially to such 
duties, it would be to the neglect of more important and 
legitimate missionary work ; or else the missionary who 
attempted to carry on both with any degree of efficiency, 
would break down beneath the weight of a burden 
heavier than he could bear. But even supposing that 
any one felt justified in turning aside from work already 
begun, and should devote his whole time to such work, 
what he could do would be a very small thing, in com- 
parison with what ought to be done. It seems evident 
that those who are already engrossed in the work which 
their various societies have sent them out to do, and 
which, in point of importance, must ever take precedence 
of all other, should not turn aside to engage in secular 
education of any kind. As it is, their time is now cut 
up and divided into too many portions. Their work is 
now so varied, that they cannot give exclusive attention 



A Christian College for Canton. 441 

for any length of time to any one part of it, even though 
they may have a decided preference, and special quali- 
fications, for some particular phase of work ; and the 
addition of another burden would not much improve 
matters. Besides this, if each missionary were to lend a 
hand in teaching English, if each school were to have it 
among the branches taught, it might seem as though a 
great deal were being done, when in reality a large 
amount of time and energy would be frittered away, 
and no substantial good be accomplished. Such desul- 
tory efforts would tend to defeat the object we have in 
view rather than to further it. 

The practical solution of the question will be found 
in the establishment of a central college in Canton, on 
a liberal basis. This may be done in a way to secure 
general approval, and conciliate all who, for any reason, 
might be disposed to regard it with hostility. It should 
not be a theological school in the special sense, or a 
school in which religious teaching is given undue promi- 
nence ; but one after the model of our colleges in 
Europe and America, where English should be taught, 
and a thorough training given in the arts course, with 
all the books of merit already published in Chinese in 
the educational line put into the hands of the students, 
to be used in connection with English text-books. 
While religion is not made conspicuous or brought for- 
ward in a manner to offend or drive pupils away, yet 
the whole tone and attitude of the institution should be 
thoroughly Christian. It should be of a standard high 
enough to attract the more advanced and intelligent of 
the Chinese ; and the course of study should be such as 



442 The Cross and the Dragon. 

to fairly entitle a man who had gone through it faith- 
fully to the degree of A.B. in an American college. 
Provision also should be made for any who wish to pur- 
sue a special course, or spend a shorter time. The 
teachers and professors should be men specially quali- 
fied and sent out from home for the work, — men of 
learning and sound Christian character. 

In contemplating this scheme, three important points 
come up for consideration, namely, its special bearing 
upon the work of the Church, its bearing upon the 
Chinese in general, and the prospect of success. 

As to the first, it stands in vital relationship to the 
direct work of the Church, arid is of the first importance 
in the training of the young men who are coming for- 
ward as evangelists and pastors to the native churches. 
We should not be compelled to adopt a low standard 
for our native ministers and teachers. They should be 
men who take rank as scholars, and secure the respect 
of educated people for their attainments. Education is 
ever an integral part of mission-work, and nowhere 
does this particular department meet with more encour- 
agement than in Canton. Yet there is at present no 
institution there in any degree adequate to the wants of 
the case. We have scores of elementary schools that 
are doing a good work, and a few of a higher grade; 
but these are for special objects, and do not meet the 
general demand. The respect for learning inborn in 
the Chinese strengthens the influence of the educator, 
while illiteracy is regarded with contempt. The desul- 
tory attempts hitherto made to secure an adequate 
training for the native preachers would be concentrated 



A Christian College for Canton, 443 

and systematized by a central college. A heavy burden 
of routine work would be lifted from the shoulders of 
those now engaged, and they would be enabled to de- 
vote themselves more fully to purely evangelistic efforts. 
In the department of medical missions immense advan- 
tage would be received. The great drawback to efficient 
training in medical science is that the pupils come with- 
out any good foundation in general knowledge. They 
are often ignorant of their own books, and unable to 
comprehend the language of the treatises on medicine 
placed in their hands. In our lands a liberal education 
is the usual prerequisite for a course of professional 
study. So it should be in Canton ; and the great im- 
portance of a thorough grounding in general knowledge 
to the medical student is at once evident. 

Again, the present is a time of transition and change. 
To those who have watched the progress of events, and 
are familiar to some degree with the undercurrent of 
thought and feeling among the Chinese, it is evident 
that at no distant day great changes in the style of edu- 
cation among the people of China will take place. The 
old fossilized systems will be broken up and new 
methods adopted. The demand for enlightened ideas 
is becoming so great, that even Chinese conservatism 
cannot long resist. What is needed by the Church, is a 
large staff of qualified teachers to meet the demands of 
this movement when it comes ; and we can be ready 
only by being prepared beforehand : hence the impor- 
tance of an institution where young men may be trained 
for that vast and wide-spread educational work that will 
soon be upon us. Simple self-interest indorses the 



444 '^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

wisdom of such a course. The demand for instruction 
in advanced ideas will far exceed the supply of teachers, 
and the controlling influence in this coming movement 
may be thrown into the hands of Christian teachers, if 
we are wise enough to provide in advance for the train- 
ing of such men. We seem, to me, to have before us a 
great opportunity; and if we but show a little of the 
wisdom of the serpent, we may forestall the Chinese, 
and establish, in advance of them, an institution worthy 
of patronage, where English and the liberal arts shall be 
taught under Christian auspices, and teachers imbued 
with Christian knowledge be supplied to the land. We 
claim to be ourselves persons of liberal education, and 
we should represent Christianity in its most cultivated 
form. We are in the best position to take advantage 
of the current of a desire more or less prevalent, and 
furnish those who are anxious for it, with the means of 
acquiring knowledge. We are in full sympathy with 
true science and all its latest discoveries and verified 
theories, and we believe in the inestimable advantage 
which the knowledge of these gives to a people. We 
hold that all truth is one, and is ever consistent with 
itself; that there is no real antagonism between religious 
truth and scientific truth, although many have tried 
hard to make it appear otherwise. We know the bale- 
ful consequences which have, in other lands, followed 
the violent separation of these two great divisions of 
truth ; and it were a pity such a state of things should 
obtain in China, without our making any eft*ort to coun- 
teract it. We find there a people in need of a consistent 
knowledge of such truth, and many of them anxious to 



A Christian College for Canton. 445 

acquire it. We take advantage of the circumstances, and 
provide them with the means of acquiring it. We are 
led to do this with greater alacrity, because if we delay, 
others will forestall us, and exclude us from the field. 

The interests of the Church are closely bound up in 
such a movement ; and among a people like the Chinese, 
where respect for learning is almost universal, the posi- 
tion of influence gained by being the fountain of knowl- 
edge to them cannot be overestimated. There is no merit 
in accepting a position of less influence when the first 
and the highest might be ours. There is no danger of ex- 
. alting too highly the power and importance of Christian 
learning; and in the present crisis of afl"airs, it is impos- 
sible to mistake the wisdom of establishing a Christian 
college in Canton, where the youth of our churches and 
of the people in general may receive a liberal education, 
and all the branches of Western learning be taught from 
a Christian stand-point. The time is fast approaching 
when the demands for advanced education will result in 
colleges being established by some one, and the Church 
may lose her grand opportunity by want of timely effort. 
It might not be any great calamity for others to take the 
lead, were it not for the fact that those who will do the 
work which we might have done will exclude all Chris- 
tian influences and make the work practically atheistic 
and of course anti-Christian. This we must all feel 
would be a great calamity and one which we should do 
our utmost to avert. History shows that when institu- 
tions of learning have been established under the pat- 
ronage of pagan governments, Christianity has been 
rigidly excluded. Even where missionaries have been 



44^ The Cross and the Dragon. 

employed as teachers and professors, their mouths have 
been closed on the subject of Christianity. It is not a 
question of taking the first step merely, or of allowing 
Christianity to be admitted on an equal footing with 
other beliefs, but a question of the first place or none at 
all. We cannot but perceive the paramount importance 
of this consideration, that when this desire for and striving 
after scientific knowledge takes definite shape, and per- 
manent institutions are established, Christianity should 
not be excluded ; and we can safely say that unless they 
are established by missionaries or through missionary 
influences they will inevitably become anti-Christian. 
Non-Christian education soon becomes anti-Christian, 
and it is needless to depict the evil consequences that 
will certainly come from a people of the mental charac- 
teristics of the Chinese receiving scientific truth from a 
rationalistic or an atheistic stand-point. Their chief 
characteristic in this matter is, that they receive teach- 
ing on authority without reasoning it out for themselves ; 
and having accepted certain theories, they hold to them 
with all the traditional pertinacity of their race. With 
the means apparently within our reach of influencing 
the minds of those who in many respects form the best 
portion of the people, we should consider the matter 
well, before declining to use them. We should not 
lightly forego the grand opportunity presented of giving 
a Christian tone to the higher education of the Canton- 
ese ; of reaching the minds of those who in their first 
inquiry will be far more open to conviction than they 
will be afterwards when they have settled theories of 
their own. No greater safeguard could be thrown 



A Christian College for Canton. 447 



around them than that afforded by the plan of teaching 
them scientific truth from a Christian stand-point, of 
letting them know from the beginning that science and 
Christianity are absolutely consistent, and help to inter- 
pret each other. If they learn it from an anti-Christian 
stand-point, it will take ages to undo the mischief and 
set them right. 

Such work may not be purely missionary work in 
the common acceptation of the term, but in its real 
bearing and results it is one of the highest forms of 
mission-work, and would doubtless be fruitful of untold 
good in the future history of the people. It does not 
meet the point to argue that where Christian truth is 
diffused and accepted, liberal education and the arts of 
civilization follow, as a natural and in some degree a 
necessary consequence. This may, and no doubt will 
usually, be the case where the Gospel is accepted, but 
how long will it be before it is generally received by 
the masses of the people? It may be centuries, for any 
indication we can show to the contrary now. In the 
mean time science is advancing with rapid strides. It 
is as aggressive as Christianity, and is more sure to 
find a ready acceptance. Its advocates and propa- 
gators are, in many cases, men who are utterly indiffer- 
ent or openly opposed to Christianity ; and those who 
are waiting for it, and will be the first to accept it, 
are not from our Christian people, except in a few 
instances. They have not, and could not be expected 
to have, any proper conception of the true relations of 
religion and science, and will therefore have no protec- 
tion against the insidious teaching of scepticism, as it 



448 The Cross and the Dragon, 

is now so widely taught in connection with science. 
The probability is that science will make much more 
rapid progress among the educated than the Gospel. 
Will the Church allow herself to be outdone, and the 
ground occupied in advance by the most dangerous 
enemies of our cause, and the people provided with 
entirely unsanctified or sceptical teaching, when she 
might, if proper measures were adopted, take the lead 
herself, and, by a liberal policy, reach a vantage ground 
from which she could exert a greater influence over the 
thinking classes of the people than she could ever 
otherwise hope to gain? 

In its bearing upon the Chinese, this subject is deep 
and far-reaching. It contemplates them not as a race 
that is hopelessly on the decline, but as one that is aris- 
ing from the slumber of ages and about to enter a career 
of prosperity never before equalled. The Chinese have 
all the elements of mental and physical vigor ; and every 
effort put forth on their behalf in the way of education 
and Christianization will tell with increasing power in 
the generations to come. " China is on the eve of great 
changes and revolutions, as radical as any in the past, in 
her political system, in her educational system, and in her 
religious life ; and the character of the people is such as 
to warrant the belief that they will emerge from these 
revolutions, which may be entirely bloodless, stronger, 
wiser, and prepared for a course of advancement and 
power unequalled in her past history. The day of 
wider knowledge seems to be dawning for this people. 
Many intelligent and observant men among them have 
seen the benefits that are bestowed by foreign rriedical 



A Christian College for Canton. 449 

skill, mechanical skill, and the various methods of ap- 
plied science. They see that their people are groping 
in the dark, wasting time, energy, and precious ma- 
terial, because of their ignorance of many of the most 
fundamental and practical truths of modern science. 
Some of those thus awakened have persevered, and, in 
spite of great difficulties, have gained a knowledge of 
these truths and theories, more or less imperfect; and 
the evident advantage it has been to them has inspired 
others with the desire to follow their steps ; and this 
feeling will increase as the years roll on, until China, 
with her millions, is found travelling along the way 
of progress and improvement in religion, science, and 
civilization. 

In comparing the Occidental nations with those of 
the Orient, the latter are often represented as having 
passed the period of their vigor, and on the sure way 
to decay. Dr. Draper says : " From this we may also 
infer how unphilosophical and vain is the expectation 
of those who attempt to restore the aged populations 
of Asia to our state. Their intellectual condition has 
passed onward, never to return." Such a theory can- 
not be held in the case of the Chinese. Six eras of 
intellectual expansion are noted by those who have 
studied their mental history as shown in their literature 
of the past. 

The first was the Chow period, the most famous of 
all, and still regarded as the golden age of China, — the 
time of Confucius, Mencius, and that group of worthies 
whose tablets are found in the temples of the sage. 

The'sccond was the Han period, in the first century 

29 



450 The Cross and the Dragon. 

of the Christian era. It was characterized by the atten- 
tion given to classical studies, to history, and to Taoistic 
philosophy, which underwent great modification in the 
hands of the philosophers of that age. 

The third was in the time of the six dynasties, extend- 
ing from the fourth to the sixth centuries, and was 
characterized by Buddhistic influences. 

The fourth embraced the period of the Tang dynasty, 
from A. D. 618-905, and was the age of poetry and 
elegant literature. 

The fifth was the time of the Sung philosophers, 
A. D. 960-1126, which was prolific in moral and critical 
writings. 

The sixth is the present age of classical criticism, and 
shows a reaction from the extreme views of the Sung 
writers. 

These six periods cover a space of three thousand 
years, each presenting distinct elements of vigorous 
thought. At the present time, the intellectual vigor 
connected with Buddhism and Taoism is dead, past any 
hope of resurrection. 

Confucianism lives, but is not strong on its intellectual 
side, its power being due to tradition and reverence for 
the past, rather than to any deep hold it has upon the 
intellectual life of the people. No one need despair of 
their intellectual life. It has survived many struggles 
in the past, and the present signs of a quickening desire 
for knowledge indicate its vitality. The great struggle 
before us intellectually and religiously, however, is with 
Confucianism. There the mental activity, as far as 
shown, the literature, and the trust of the people lie. 



A Christian College for Canton. 45 1 

Their history is that of a Hterary nation, and their 
claims to be regarded as an educated people in the 
present age cannot be denied. The nature of their 
knowledge and the kind of mental food by which their 
intellectual life has been sustained are peculiar; yet the 
fact that they have minds well disciplined, a love and 
respect for learning, and a mental vigor surpassed by 
but few, show good materials on which to work in giving 
them true knowledge. 

The scholars in Canton are numbered by hundreds 
of thousands. At every triennial examination for the 
second degree, corresponding in some respects to the 
degree of A.M., twelve thousand or more, who have 
already taken the first degree, gather in the provincial 
city. They vary in age from the youth of sixteen to 
the old man of seventy, but are all imbued with a love 
for letters, and have proved their proficiency in suc- 
cessfully passing the rigid examination for the first de- 
gree. On the day appointed they are admitted to the 
great enclosure, on either side of which extend rows 
of cells, three feet by six, to which the candidates are 
assigned, after a rigid examination of their persons to 
see that no papers or helps of any kind have been con- 
cealed. Writing materials are supplied to them, and on 
the first day themes are announced from the Four Books 
for three prose essays and one poem, and twenty- four 
hours allotted in which to do the work. The essays are 
handed in to the first committee of examination, who 
sift out any that may be blotted or appear unworthy of 
consideration. The remainder are transcribed, so that 
the penmanship may not be recognized, each having a 



452 The Cross and the Dragon. 

name assumed for the occasion, and handed to a second 
committee, who sift them still further, and submit the 
few that remain to the chief Board of Examiners, who 
give final decision as to their merits. After two days 
they assemble a second time, and in the same manner 
prepare essays and poems on themes taken from the 
Five Classics, which are submitted to the same process 
as the previous ones. Another interval of two days 
passed brings them to the third session, at which miscel- 
laneous subjects are assigned. The whole process, with 
the preliminary examination which each has to pass to 
obtain his seat, the intense excitement, the fatigue, and 
confinement in the narrow cells in the sultry September 
days, prove very trying ; and on almost every occasion 
some of the weaker ones succumb, and are carried out 
lifeless. Of the twelve thousand contestants, about one 
hundred are successful, the remainder going back to 
their homes or schools, where they continue their studies 
until the next triennial. The contest for the first degree 
is held in the prefectural city, and the candidates are 
admitted by districts. Each one is required to pass a 
preliminary examination before he is admitted, so that 
none but those who have a recognized position as 
scholars appear. In the province of Canton, there are 
seventy-seven districts or counties, the number of liter- 
ary candidates varying from a few hundreds to six thou- 
sand in each. This shows what a great army of scholars 
Canton can produce. Besides these are large numbers 
who have studied, and from disinclination or despair of 
success, have not tried for a degree. They are chiefly 
engaged in teaching or in keeping books for merchants ; 



A Christian College for Canton. 453 

so that we have a vast number of fairly educated men, 
who can appreciate the higher learning we wish to sup- 
ply to them. 

It is in this mass that the desire for advanced knowl- 
edge is working. A few have given expression to their 
desires, and by the study of scientific works published 
in their own language have gained some insight into 
the great field of knowledge yet unknown to the mass 
of them. Long secluded from the intellectual life of 
other lands, they are beginning to feel the subtle mag- 
netism of advanced thought and to shake off their old 
exclusiveness. Many agencies are at work in opening 
their minds, chief among them being the proclamation 
of the Gospel and the distribution of Christian litera- 
ture. Other events are conspiring to break down the 
walls which ultra-conservatism and traditional dislike 
have reared. The construction of a telegraph line from 
Canton to Hong-Kong, though it caused much excite- 
ment and the loss of several lives, has proved an edu- 
cating power. It has dispelled, in some degree, the 
maze of superstitions that cover so thickly the surface 
of the land. It has been purchased by the Govern- 
ment and extended far into the interior. The war with 
France is shaking them out of their old habits, and 
leading them to inquire, with some practical end in 
view, the secret of power in Western nations. The 
whole trend of outward events, and of thought and 
discussion among the people, is toward a period of 
change and enlightenment. Who is to supply the light 
to this great army of scholars? Such an institution 
as has been suggested would become the fountain of 



454 ^'^^ Cross and the Dragon, 

knowledge to that immense company, and through 
them to the thirty millions of people in Canton and 
the adjoining provinces. What may we not expect 
when such a host turns from the vagaries of Taoistic 
philosophy and the dry bones of Confucianism to the 
pursuit of living knowledge? 

As with the Church, so with these people : the great 
matter of importance is that they should receive sci- 
ence from Christian teachers. The bias received in 
the first study of philosophy or science will continue 
to influence them ever after. It is a matter of the 
deepest moment that we should step in and prevent 
another and more dangerous form of error taking the 
place of the present ones, which, instead of leading 
them to the truth in its highest and most symmetrical 
form, show only the secular and material side, with 
a leaven of scepticism which their minds are only 
too ready to receive. A call comes to save them 
from the unbelief and barrenness of atheism and agnos- 
ticism, and give them the truth they are searching for 
in its purest form, instinct with the life of Him who 
is "the way, the truth, and the life," that the intellec- 
tual life of China in the future may be distinctively 
Christian. 

The prospects of success to such a scheme are most 
encouraging. We have the examples of other institu- 
tions in Foochow and Shanghai, established upon simi- 
lar principles, that are commanding a large patronage; 
so that the attendance of students is not only assured, 
but the hope of its becoming in a great degree self- 
sustaining is also warranted. The efforts made in the 



A Christian College for Canton, 455 

earlier days of missions in South China were not fruit- 
less of good. Although the Missions that did most in 
giving instruction in English have long since suspended 
such operations, yet men who in these schools re- 
ceived their training have become leaders among the 
people in many enterprises of science and general busi- 
ness. They are not consistently Christian in all things, 
it is true, but their enHghtened ideas have been a boon 
to the people. 

A great field is here presented which promises rich 
results in every line of progress, but the great need is 
for an adequate endowment, that the institution may be 
founded without delay, and the grand opportunity pre- 
sented improved to the fullest extent; and the hope 
is indulged that some whom God has so abundantly 
blessed w^th earthly treasures, increased, it may be, 
by business connections in South China, may be led to 
see this wonderful opportunity, and give the project 
that generous support needed to place it on a firm 
basis of success. In this work of higher education, 
there is unusual scope for the talents and energies of 
young and enthusiastic men. No finer opportunity 
could be presented for impressing one's character upon 
and giving permanent bent to inquiring minds than 
this enterprise holds out. To be the founders of true 
science in that populous land, and the first to open the 
secrets of true knowledge to its thousands of students, 
— what a prospect for the aspiring educator! All the 
toil and anxiety of organizing the work will be for- 
gotten in the results which even a few years may be 
expected to show. Japan has astonished the world by 



456 The Cross a7id the Dragon. 

the wonderful strides made in the line of progress. 
China, less easily moved because of the great mass 
of her people and their peculiar habits, is advancing 
too. Her time has not yet fully come, but it is fast 
approaching; and great will be the reward of him 
who holds the cup of true knowledge and Christian 
learning to the lips of that people parched by long 
ages in the deserts of their barren and antiquated 
systems. 

A college in Canton, well established and manned by 
efficient teachers, would, without doubt, attract many of 
the inquiring spirits who are in search of the treasures 
of knowledge hidden, as yet, from that blinded people. 
These minds, imbued with the spirit of progress, and 
receiving the truths of nature and philosophy from the 
lips of Christian teachers, would go forth with greatly 
enlightened views of men and things ; and, although 
they might not be led to accept religious truth as we 
hold it, they would learn that there is no contradic- 
tion between the deepest and most mysterious truths of 
Christianity and the highest truths of science. They 
would learn that science and religion should go hand in 
hand, and that the lands from which they would learn 
the deep and practical lessons of national life are in- 
debted to both for their enlightenment, freedom, and 
advanced civilization. Such an institution, too, if prop- 
erly conducted, would become the parent and model 
of many others in the surrounding cities, and men 
trained in it would become, in time, the teachers of 
multitudes more. How important, then, to have the 
beginning of the movement under the control of 



A Christian College for Canton. 457 

Christian men, who would give a Christian tone to the 
education and hterature that is sure to spring up in 
its wake, and the way be thus prepared for the full 
reception of Christian truth, when the masses of the 
people shall be shaken out of the mental and spir- 
itual lethargy in which they have been dreaming the 
ages away! 



458 The Cross and the Dragon, 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK. 

IF the foregoing pages have not utterly failed in the 
object for which they were written, they have made 
it clear how deeply the foundations have been laid, how 
multiform and wide-reaching are the agencies at work, 
and how grand and almost boundless in their possibili- 
ties are the prospects of the enterprise in the near 
future. Each decade raises the standard by which 
results are compared. The present shows wondrous 
attainment beside the first score of years, but is itself 
a day of small things compared with what is soon to 
come. We have endeavored to take a comprehensive 
view of the various departments of the work, to observe 
the progress and present condition of each, and thus 
obtain some adequate general conception of the whole. 
Such views, however, are necessarily imperfect. There 
are influences and indications of power that defy classi- 
fication. There are signs of an undercurrent of senti- 
ment, of which we gain onh' occasional glimpses, that 
show the secret working of the leaven of Christian 
truth. The whole structure of heathenism is being 
undermined and weakened in a way that only the future 
can reveal. The supercilious, self-conceited literati 
stand in dread of the Gospel, and the bitterest hostility 



The Present Outlook, 459 

is often the clearest proof of its power. Some hint of 
its growing influence is seen in the rival hospital es- 
tablished to cope with the missionary hospital ; in the 
preaching-halls everywhere opened to counteract the 
effect of the daily proclamation of the Gospel ; in free 
schools opened by benevolent associations in imitation 
of the mission-schools. Imitation is the highest form of 
commendation, so we may infer the power of these 
agencies, from the rivalry they have excited. 

Two years ago a company of Chinese gentlemen, men 
of intelligence, but not Christians, were discussing the 
subject of Christianity, and agreed in the opinion that 
it was destined soon to prevail. Keenly observant of 
the drift of public sentiment, they saw the chief evi- 
dences of its power in the decline of idolatry, which 
just then was especially marked. The people were 
deserting the shrines ; and the temple-keepers, who 
depend for their living on the sale of materials for 
worship, were in despair, and bitterly denounced the 
preachers of Jesus, who had shaken the faith of the 
people in their gods. In the great city temple of 
Canton, the worshippers had fallen off to such an ex- 
tent that the lease of the place, which was formerly 
considered a profitable speculation, often commanding 
six or seven thousand dollars a year, for a term of three 
years went a-begging, no one being willing to under- 
take it for more than a few months at a time. This 
falling off in the number of worshippers occurred, more- 
over, at a time when the country was suffering from 
drought, which, under ordinary circumstances, would 
have sent the people in larger numbers to the shrines 



460 The Cross and the Dragon, 

to pray for rain. The opinion expressed by these Chi- 
nese scholars was that the preaching of the missionaries 
had been so far successful in shaking the confidence of 
the people in the objects so long worshipped ; and their 
belief was that this was but the first step toward a much 
wider and more significant departure from the habits of 
their ancestors. The man who gave me the details of 
this conversation, himself a scholar of repute, assured me 
that there were many among the more intelligent people 
who believed the Gospel to be true, but awaited a favor- 
able time for declaring their position. This testimony 
of outsiders incidentally given is of the greatest value. 

Another fact that has come repeatedly to our notice 
is that not all the Christians are found within the 
churches. There are many hidden ones scattered 
through the land, living faithful lives, but shut oft" 
from their fellow-Christians or prevented by some 
obstacle from joining the company of believers in the 
church. In a village near Canton lived a venerable 
man who had heard the truth in the hospital. His 
belief in Jesus was no secret in the town ; his ready 
witness for Christ and his earnestness in declaring his 
faith, won for him the name of " the man of Jesus," by 
which title he was known far and wide. His long white 
beard and gentle dignity secured for him the respect of 
all ; and the fact of his adherence to the Gospel was re- 
vealed by inquiring of some people from the village 
who attended service in Canton, whether they had 
heard the truth before they had come to the city. " Oh, 
yes," was their reply ; " Father Tsun in our village is a 
Christian, and teaches the people every day." 



The Present Outlook, 461 

In a distant district seldom visited, a native evange- 
list was travelling, and accidentally found an old man 
ninety years of age, who had become a Christian ten 
years before, but had never received baptism. His 
presence in the place was made known by the people 
responding to the appeals of the preacher: " We have a 
Jesus man in our town, — old Mr. Wong ; come and see 
him." The testimony of his relatives and townsmen 
showed him to be faithful in his worship of the true 
God. Every trace of idolatry had been removed from 
his house ; and in the simplicity of his heart true homage 
was paid to the Lord of all, although of baptism and 
the rites of the outward church he was ignorant. A 
man in the interior sent to the preacher at a distant out- 
station for Christian books, his interest having been 
awakened by the general report of the Gospel. After 
careful study of the books, he sent for more, declaring 
his belief in the doctrines, although he had never seen 
a missionary or heard a native preacher speak. 

In a city on the North River a missionary was seek- 
ing for a suitable building to be used as a public preach- 
ing-hall. The usual suspicions as to the motives of the 
foreigner in securing a place stood in the way of his 
success, until one day he was approached by a well- 
dressed, portly gentleman, who had learned of his object, 
and had come to offer him a shop on the main thorough- 
fare. His readiness to rent his property in this open 
way was in such contrast to the usual methods, that the 
missionary was led to ask if he knew anything about the 
Gospel. His reply was: " I was formerly a merchant in 
Canton, and was accustomed to attend the chapel near 



462 The Cross and the Dragon, 

the ' Double Gate/ where a man who spoke with great 
animation and perfect idiom ^ used to preach. I know 
the Gospel is good and true, and am perfectly willing 
to rent my shop for a preaching-room." How many 
more there may be of the millions who have heard the 
truth, now scattered over the land, unknown, unsus- 
pected, but with a knowledge of its meaning and a 
belief in its truth, we can never know. By the constant 
and wide-spread proclamation of the truth in scores of 
churches and preaching-rooms, in hundreds of market- 
centres and populous villages; by the instruction of 
thousands of children and youth in the schools ; by the 
sale and distribution of hundreds of thousands of Gos- 
pels and Christian tracts, the people are coming to 
know what the Gospel is. It is not an exaggerated 
statement to say that there are in the province of Can- 
ton to-day, hundreds of thousands of people who have 
a sufficient knowledge of the truth to save them, were it 
but quickened into life by the Spirit of God. As far as 
mere outward preparation goes, there is nothing to pre- 
vent a veritable Pentecost of blessing coming to the 
Church in Canton. 

Other influences directly or indirectly connected with 
Christianity are at work, breaking down prejudice, over- 
throwing superstition, and preparing the way for the 
coming of the Lord. The all-wise Providence of God 
is seen in many of the political movements of the last 
half-century; and our faith is strong in the assurance 
that whatever struggles are before the people, and 
however persecution may sift the young Church now 
1 Rev. C. F. Preston. 



The Present Outlook. 463 

growing up, the end will be the wide extension of His 
kingdom. 

Our first duty is toward the work in hand, in the per- 
formance of which both courage and hope are required. 
It looms up before us as we advance, in mighty propor- 
tions. It is easy to talk of what has been done, and to 
utter bright prophecies for the future. It is delightful 
to dwell on the glorious prospect that opens to the eye 
of faith, when China and her millions are converted to 
the Lord ; but we must be ready as a Church to put our 
hands to the mighty work of preparation that must yet 
be done before the Gospel can triumph in that land. 
We must be ready to occupy each coigne of vantage, 
and improve the providential openings that come on 
every hand ; we should no longer offer the formal 
prayer, too often meaningless, that God would open 
the way for the spread of His truth. He has opened 
the way most marvellously ; and what we need in Can- 
ton, at present, is some scores of men, with the means 
to correspond, to occupy the field now open before us. 
From Lien-chow, with its surroundings of rarest beauty, 
on the north, to the island of Hainan, with its jungles 
and aborigines, on the south, with many a populous 
district intervening, the land lies fully open to the 
missionary. Were the men and the means forthcoming, 
nothing would be easier than to show where twenty 
men could be placed at once with work all ready to 
their hands, while five hundred men of the best talents 
would find their hands more than full in working up the 
populous districts now open and easily accessible from 
Canton, that have not yet been reached. 



464 The Cross and the Dragon. 

As we view the outlook from Canton, the mind is 
forcibly impressed with the utter inadequacy of the 
means provided for the work that spreads out. As far 
as the nature and the opportunities for enlargement of 
the work appear, there is nothing to prevent indefinite 
extension. In every department there is scope for 
almost unlimited effort, so that it becomes the part of 
wisdom to choose, from the many opportunities pre- 
sented, those most promising of success. 

China, as the oldest and most populous nation on the 
fi^ce of the earth, has peculiarly strong claims upon the 
Church. Her long isolation, her state of semi-civiliza- 
tion, her peculiar but wide-spread system of education, 
have long been barriers in the way ; but the day of 
better things is dawning, and the doors, so widely open, 
invite the Church to enter and possess the land. What 
has been done is but the merest beginning, compared 
with what is still before us. The difficulties that are 
yet to be encountered are neither few nor small. They 
are so great and so numerous, that those who know 
them, but do not understand the power of the Gospel 
we preach, think them to be insurmountable ; but as 
soldiers of Jesus, we are not afraid of difficulties; we 
are sent to overcome them, to prepare the way for the 
coming of the Lord ; to cast up the highway, to gather 
out the stones, that the King in His glory may come. 

The great conflict between truth and error is to be 
fought in this land of the Dragon. All the forces of 
error, symbolized in that national emblem, are arrayed 
against the truth, as symbolized in the Cross, Her 
population embraces nearly one half of the people in 



The Present Outlook. 465 

the whole pagan world, and should therefore absorb one 
half the energies of the Church, in her foreign mission 
work. It is the duty of the Church to consider the 
proportionate claims of China beside those of other 
nations, and also to reflect upon the permanency of re- 
sults attained in that land. No doubt is suggested as 
to the wisdom of all that has been and is still being 
done for the decaying races of the earth. The islands of 
the Pacific, though fast losing their original populations 
in many places, will ever hold the place of honor, as 
the scene of the first great triumphs of Christian mis- 
sions ; but what proportion of effort has been bestowed 
on them, compared with what China has received? The 
Sandwich Islands, with a present native population of 
less than fifty thousand, have received an amount of 
effort, which, if given to Canton in the same proportion, 
would increase the present force of agents more than 
one hundred-fold. Whatever is done for China will 
tell with power, long after these Polynesian races have 
entirely disappeared. It seems but the part of wisdom 
for the Church to bestow her labors where they will tell 
most effectively, not only in the immediate future, but 
in the generations to come ; and the prospect of the 
perpetuity of Chinese institutions is such that no doubt 
as to the endless good of every atom of Christian force 
set in motion can be admitted. 

The two great races that confront each other on either 
side of the world arc the Anglo-Saxon and the Chinese. 
Of the wide prevalence of the EngHsh language as the 
general medium of communication, and of ICnglish insti- 
tutions as the great transforming power in the world, 

30 



466 The Cross and the Dragon. 

there can be little doubt; nor, on the other hand, can 
the continuance and spread of the Chinese, with their 
peculiar manners and habits of life, be denied. How 
shall these two races affect each other? What reciprocal 
influences shall be exerted? Is there no indication of 
God's Providence in the close relationship into which 
they are thrown ? — the one the oldest, and most stereo- 
typed in its institutions, of all the nations of the earth, 
the other embodying the latest and best results of Chris- 
tian civilization. The East and the West have met; 
youth and age have come together; Christianity, fresh 
and blooming in its perpetual youth, meets hoary pagan- 
ism in its primeval and perennial home. Let not the 
lack of faith or zeal weaken the hands of its champions 
as they assail the Dragon in his lair, and pour the light 
of purest wisdom into the land, which shall yet fulfil the 
prophetic word in sending her sons to the feet of the 
Crucified One. And as a fair and promising portion of 
that wide domain, let Canton receive the proportion of 
attention that is rightly due her, that the Broad East and 
the Broad West, and the Cloudy South (Yunnan) as well, 
may be provided with teachers of the Word of Life. Let 
the proportion of one missionary for fifty thousand peo- 
ple, which has been wisely suggested as the least that will 
suffice, be adopted for Canton, and the force would have 
to be increased twelvefold immediately. Six hundred 
missionaries would be required to meet this apportion- 
ment, which assigns a flock more than twenty times 
as large as that demanding the attention of a pastor in 
Christian lands, to the care of each missionary, whether 
ordained minister, physician, layman, or unmarried lady. 



The Present Outlook, 467 

The broad possessions of South China present a fair 
land of conquest for the army of truth, not only in the 
myriads of people found, but in the natural resources 
of the country. Rich in minerals, the land is impov- 
erished, and its natural treasure-houses closed, by the 
strong seals of superstition. Coal, iron, copper, lead, 
and many other substances are hidden in large deposits 
in her mountains and in the basin of her plains, but 
superstition forbids them to be touched, lest the anger 
of the Dragon and the wrath of the spirits be excited, 
and dire calamity overtake the land. Christianity 
comes with its power to break the spell which the belief 
in magic power and evil influences has cast over the 
people, and to open to them the treasures of their own 
land, which contains the means of bringing to them 
great national wealth and outward prosperity; and 
we may hope that those receiving these gifts at the 
hand of religion, will be ready to devote them largely 
to the work of the Lord, — to the support of all the 
various forms of benevolent work which ever accom- 
pany the religion of Jesus; and the whole land, with its 
people and its products, be presented an acceptable 
offering to the Lord. 

We are on the eve of great events. The land of 
Sinim is to be shaken by convulsions. Political crises 
are approaching, which may end in the downfall of the 
present foreign dynasty and the establishment of a 
purely Chinese family on the throne. The day of ex- 
clusiveness can never return, even though many of them 
desire it; and the probable effect of whatever transpires, 
will be the fuller opening of the country. The work 



468 The Cross and the Dragon. 

of preparation already done will prove of immense 
advantage, and enable the Church to enter on a career 
of prosperity, equipped, in some measure, for the work 
that opens before her. Missions in Canton, as well as 
other parts of China, are only in their infancy. The 
results of the past, both as to the number of agents 
employed and the influence exerted, are but pledges of 
what is to be done. The whole land has not been so 
widely opened, merely to show its extent and capacity. 
It is meant that we should go in and take possession of 
it. The messengers of the Lord have gone through al- 
most every part, and bring back the report that it may 
even now be possessed. By the increase of the agents, 
native and foreign, and the systematic division of the 
country, the whole land may be easily reached in a 
period of five years, and the Gospel preached in every 
town and village. The way is open, the means of travel 
fully adequate to the work ; the only lack is the men to 
go. What a work it is to carry, in five years, the Gos- 
pel to thirty millions of people in these scattered towns 
and villages. Shall such opportunities be disregarded, 
while the Church is possessed of such wealth and such 
numbers of men who could easily go? 




SAM A - YU -LI U -B AY 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



ADVANCE INTO THE INTERIOR. 



THE work hitherto done has, in a great measure, 
been confined to Canton, if we except the German 
Missions in the Hakka district. The city itself and the 
densely crowded country immediately adjacent present 
a field at once accessible and large enough to absorb 
the energy and time of all who choose to enter ; but the 
regions beyond are ever kept in mind, and constant 
efforts made to pierce the interior. Special openings 



470 The Cross and the Dragon, 

are presented at many points, toward several of which 
the hopes and energies of the missionaries are turned 
as promising centres for future operations. 

In the north of the province the Wesleyans have se- 
cured a firm footing in the important prefectural city of 
Shiu-kwan, which is the poHtical centre of six large 
counties, to all of which free entrance is assured. The 
work so favorably begun there promises a large out- 
come of good results before many years have passed. 
Besides being the centre of a large section of Canton 
province, it is connected directly by river and portage 
road with the adjoining provinces of Kiang-si and Hunan. 
The people of this latter province have sedulously re- 
sisted the efforts of the missionaries to obtain a footing 
on the north, so that the matter of entering from the 
south becomes of greater importance than it otherwise 
would be. Ascending the long and picturesque moun- 
tain pass, through which the river flows in a succession 
of rapids, above Lok-cheung, the town of Ping-shek, 
the first military post on the southern border of Hunan, 
is reached, and access gained from that point to a wide 
and populous district. The early establishment of an 
outpost in the city of Lok-cheung will afford efificient 
means of reaching the people of Hunan, who are con- 
stantly passing to and fro on business. 

The city of Lien-chow, in the extreme northwest cor- 
ner of the province, is the point selected by the Presby- 
terian Mission for the establishment of a station with 
missionaries resident. It is in the midst of a plain, sur- 
rounded by natural scenery of surpassing beauty. It is 
reached by a branch of the North River, which winds 



Advance into the Interior, 471 



for one hundred and twenty miles through a series of 
wonderful scenes, ten mountain gorges of most pictur- 
esque formation being passed, with endless variety in 
the mountain groups that line its course, while from the 
city attractive views of high mountains open on all 
sides. Three smaller streams unite to form the Lien- 
chow River, and in the valley of each are large collec- 
tions of populous villages, forming an aggregate of 
several hundred thousand people who may be reached 
from that centre. The people are gentle and docile, 
and show great friendliness to the missionary. A 
chapel, school, and dispensary have been in success- 
ful operation for some time. Besides the immediate 
district of w^hich it is the centre. Lien- chow is only one 
and a half day's journey from the head-waters of an 
important stream flowing down into the heart of the 
Hunan province, which affords easy access to that sec- 
tion of the Empire so long closed against Christian 
effort. The disposition of the Hunanese people on the 
Lien-chow border encourages the hope that permanent 
work may soon be inaugurated among them. To the 
south of Lien-chow, and occupying an extensive moun- 
tain region, arc large tribes of the aborigines, who still 
hold themselves independent of the Chinese. They are 
seen in the market-towns, to which they bring the prod- 
ucts of their native hills to exchange for various articles, 
but nothing has yet been done toward bringing them to 
a knowledge of the trutli. An interesting people, both 
in their history and customs, they form an attractive 
feature in the prospective work in Lien-chow, — a new 
race to be brought under Christian influences. 



472 The Cross and the Dragon. 



Turning to the south and west, the densely populated 
district of Heung-Shan, forming the southern portion 
of the great delta, and the broad district of San-ui, im- 
mediately to the west, present an immense assemblage 
of people for whom but little has been done. Several 
millions of people there found within a comparatively 
small radius, all perfectly accessible, call for some defi- 
nite and adequate provision for reaching them. 

Further west is the city of Ko-chow, the prefectural 
city for six counties, isolated by mountain ranges from 
the central portion of the province. This wide section, 
as yet untouched by missionary effort, has a river sys- 
tem of its own, many large and important towns with 
a teeming population, easily reached from Ko-chow as a 
centre, presenting a fine opening for work. It is en- 
tirely destitute, and besides one or two hurried journeys 
through a portion of it, nothing whatever has been 
done to reach its people. Its large streams, flowing 
out to the sea, invite a brisk trade in salt, fish, oil, hides, 
and medicines, which, up to the present, has been car- 
ried on by junks alone, no merchant steamers having 
yet entered its waters. Its people are pure Cantonese, 
showing only a slight variation in dialect, and from gen- 
eral report seem to be of a friendly disposition. Cut 
off by natural barriers from other parts of the province, 
it demands special attention, and oftcrs an inviting field 
to the Church. 

At the extreme south is found the island of Hainan, 
lying abreast of the gulf of Tonquin. This great isl- 
and, which forms one of the largest prefectures of the 
province of Canton, has hitherto been almost entirely 



Advance into tJie Interior. 



473 



neglected in the work of evangelization. Its isolated 
position has cut it off from frequent communication 
with the mainland, and the difference of dialects spoken 
has made it impossible for missionaries from Canton 
or Hong-Kong to do anything for its people. Until 
twelve years ago the island was a perfect terra incog- 
nita to the outside world ; and the reputation it bore, 
as the haunt of pirates and desperate characters, did 
not encourage investigation. At that time the open- 
ing of a treaty port for foreign commerce was under 
discussion; and several gentlemen, connected with the 
Chinese Customs and the English Consular service, 
made the circuit of the island in gunboats, landing 
at various points along the coast and making short 
excursions inland. Their observations, however, were 
too limited to furnish any reliable information as to 
the condition and disposition of the people in the 
wide and unknown interior. It was not until three 
years ago that the outside shell was really broken, and 
this interior laid open. This was done in the first in- 
stance by Mr. Carl C. Jeremiassen, a Danish gentleman, 
formerly connected with the Imperial Maritime Cus- 
toms, who has devoted himself to independent mission- 
work for the people of Hainan. In addition to other 
preparations, he studied medicine and surgery with 
Dr. Kerr, in Canton, and is now doing, single-handed, 
a noble work on the island. Two years ago I visited 
Hainan, and, in company with Mr. Jeremiassen, made 
extensive journeys through the country. Having spent 
forty-five days in the interior of the island, among both 
Chinese and aborigines, I can speak from personal 



474 -^^^ Cross and the Dragon. 

observation and experience of the disposition of the 
people, and the openings for work among them ; and I 
can say with emphasis that the whole country — coast, 
interior, mountain, and plain — seems fully open to Chris- 
tian work. Three years ago we were all in total igno- 
rance of the state of the people ; but now the greater 
part of the interior, as well as the outer circle near the 
coast, is as well known as the more frequented districts 
near Canton ; and, what is of much greater importance, 
our favorable reception is assured. In ten years of mis- 
sion-work, extending over the greater part of the prov- 
ince of Canton, I never met with as much civility, 
friendliness, and genuine hospitality, as among these 
people. 

The island is about twice the size of Sicily, its longest 
diameter being, in one direction, one hundred and fifty 
miles, and in the opposite direction, one hundred miles. 
The northern half is composed of broad plains, and a 
gently rolling country, covered with cocoa-nut groves, 
to the east. The middle and southern portions are 
mountainous, the peaks and ranges rising from four 
thousand to seven thousand feet above the sea. It is a 
fine agricultural country, but is especially rich in min- 
erals, gold, copper, and magnetic ore abounding. 

While the climate is tropical, the heat is not so 
oppressive as in countries farther south, the constant 
sea-breeze modifying the heat. It is, on the whole, a 
pleasant climate, especially from October to April. 
The foreign residents in the port of Hoi-how uniformly 
enjoy good health. 

The population is composed of Chinese and the 



Advance into the Interior. 475 

aborigines, called Les. Of the former there are per- 
haps one million, but the number of the latter is not 
known ; the only point we can. be sure of is that they 
are very numerous. 

The Chinese are the descendants of colonists who 
came centuries ago, and are a quiet, simple people, 
easily accessible and apparently without any strong 
prejudice against Christianity. The Les are the de- 
scendants of the original inhabitants of the island, who 
were there when the Chinese approached it two thou- 
sand years ago ; and although driven back from the 
rich plains near the coast, they have ever maintained 
their independence against Chinese aggressions. They 
are divided into some fifteen or twenty tribes, each with 
an independent chief, but seem to be all of one race. 
We were the first white men to visit their villages in the 
interior and live with them in their homes ; and notwith- 
standing all reports to the contrary, we found them 
invariably kind, hospitable, and glad to have us come 
among them. Their dress and customs are very dif- 
ferent from the Chinese. Their language and history 
have yet to be studied, and their proper place among 
the races of mankind has yet to be determined. They 
are entirely free from many of the Chinese superstitions 
which oppose the greatest barriers to Christianity, such 
as the state religion, worship of ancestors, Buddhism, 
etc. They live among the hills in the centre and south 
of the island, and although possessed of many of the 
usual characteristics of savages, are truly a fine race both 
in physique and disposition. Invitations come from sev- 
eral important villages to open schools among them. 



47^ The Cross and the Dragon, 

The dialect known as the Hainanese is spoken over 
most of the island, and is understood and spoken also 
by most of the men we met in the Le country, so that 
one language would suffice for both Chinese and abo- 
rigines. The situation of Hainan is in many respects 
similar to that of Formosa; only the Les seem much 
more accessible and impressible, to begin with, than 
the savages of Formosa, and we have but to refer to the 
wonderful successes that have attended Christian work 
in that island, to find a prophecy of what may be done 
in Hainan. Providence has thrown open the doors of 
this island so that we can look into its very centre, and 
has shown us a people — two peoples, in fact — ready to 
receive the Gospel, — people who, from the double fact 
of their isolation and readiness, have peculiarly strong 
claims for help. Mr. Jeremiassen is alone in this inter- 
esting field, without even a native to assist him. He 
cannot begin to meet the demands that come for his 
services. His letters say, '* My hands are more than full. 
I am seeing patients from nine in the morning until 
almost dark, and am obliged to send many away every 
day unaided. During the last fortnight I have daily 
prescribed for over one hundred patients, performing 
many operations in the mean time. There is a fine 
opportunity to speak to the people while they are wait- 
ing for medicine, but there is no one to speak. I 
generally hold a short service of preaching and prayer 
before commencing work." There he stands alone, with 
the pressure of this great work upon him, and his heart 
longing to carry the Gospel to the aborigines in the 
interior. Associated with the Mission in Canton, he calls 



Advance into the Interior, 477 

to us for help. The occupation of this most promising 
field comes directly in the line of the enlargement of 
our work from Canton, and, to my mind, there is no 
part of South China that promises such large results in 
the near future as this island of Hainan. 

Stretching to the west is the great province of Kwong- 
si, "the Broad West," in which no permanent or system- 
atic work has yet been accomplished. The occupation of 
this province is of the utmost importance to its millions 
of people, and is the preparatory step to the opening of 
the still more distant province of Yunnan, " Cloudy 
South." Nearly twenty years ago the Baptist Mission 
secured a preaching-room in the city of Ng-chow, but 
were driven from the place at the time of the " gods and 
genii " powder excitement. Two years ago they reopened 
the station, but were a second time compelled to retire. 
This city, situated a few miles within the border, is the 
port of entry and the most influential place in the prov- 
ince. As a basis of operation, it is well situated on the 
main river, near the confluence of the stream that flows 
down from the provincial capital, the city of Kwei-lam. 
The Presbyterian Mission has a slight hold in the city 
of Kwei-ping, several days' journey further up, and in 
the persons of Messrs. Fulton and White, has undertaken 
to establish a centre there. The question of residence 
once settled, the province presents a most attractive 
field. Traversed by streams in all directions, the means 
by which the people can easily be reached are at hand ; 
and under the stimulus of the desire to carry the glad 
tidings to the millions who have never even heard the 
report of the Gospel, a great work may be done. At 



47S The Cross and the Dragon, 

present the whole province is in a state of entire desti- 
tution. Beyond a few tours of evangelism and the sale 
of some tens of thousands of books, the people are still 
unreached. Its broad waterways, lined with cities, towns, 
and market-centres, where thousands gather daily, pre- 
sent a field for endless labor. This province was the 
starting-point of the Tai-ping rebellion, and has ever 
maintained the reputation of being the most bitterly 
hostile, to Christians not only, but to all foreigners. 
Approached on various sides, its people seem all to be 
imbued with the same spirit, and cry death to the emis- 
sary of a foreign government or of a foreign religion. 
The hostility was shown to be anti-foreign and not 
simply anti-Christian, in their treatment of an English- 
man who held a high position in the Chinese army, and 
was compelled to stay a few weeks in their midst. 
Threats of the direst methods of torture were freely 
indulged in, and open insults offered in spite of his offi- 
cial dress. Their present attitude, however, is not such 
as to deter the persevering missionary ; experience has 
shown that he can travel from one end of the province 
to the other, while no special hindrance is offered to the 
public proclamation of the truth and the general distri- 
bution of the printed Word, other than the usual inci- 
vilities of a motley Chinese assembly. The immediate 
work in this province seems to be the thorough explora- 
tion of its entire extent by the missionary and the oral 
proclamation of the Gospel to the people. When this is 
thoroughly done the way will be open for more perma- 
nent work. Months may be spent on its rivers, traversing 
new territory, each day bringing several new towns 



Advance into the Interior. 479 

within the reach of Christian influences. The only con- 
venient way of entrance to Kwong-si is from the Canton 
side, the West River, in its broad, deep volume, flowing 
down through its entire length and carrying the rich 
cargoes of grain, cassia, and matting straw to the mar- 
kets in Canton. 

Beyond the borders of Kwong-si, the province of 
Yunnan is reached. One of the most extensive of Chi- 
nese states, it is remote from every convenient centre ; 
and the question of reaching and bringing it, with its 
wealth of mineral deposits, into the line of commerce, 
has led to many expeditions, the loss of valuable lives, 
and even to war. The great point at issue in the French 
conflict in Tonquinwas the opening of the Red River as 
the highway of trade to Southeast Yunnan. The expe- 
dition of Garnier and others up the river of Cambodia 
had the same end in view. The road from Burmah by 
Bhamo into its western borders, it was hoped, would 
prove a convenient outlet in that direction ; while with 
infinite difficulty it is approached from the north by way 
of the Yang-tsz River. The expedition of Messrs. Col- 
quhon and Wahab, which ended fatally for the latter 
gentleman, had in view the opening of a trade route 
from Canton, through Southern Yunnan, and the Laos 
country, to Maulmein. Well conceived, and in a measure 
proved to be practicable, this promises to be the most 
feasible route, and will throw the development of that 
vast territory into English hands. Commerce has been far 
in advance of Christianity in exploring Yunnan from the 
Canton side, but the way is now open, and a more ready 
access afforded from this side than from any other. An 



480 The Cross and the Dragon. 

additional call is therefore made for the enlargement of 
missions in South China, to include this vast region of 
the " Cloudy South." Sparsely settled, and in many 
places peopled by mountain tribes, chiefly aborigines, it 
does not present its inhabitants in so accessible posi- 
tions as those in the great domains of the two Kwongs ; 
but their state of ignorance and destitution, and the 
means possessed of reaching them, are strong arguments 
for efforts on their behalf. 

Turning now for a final glance at the field, how vast 
a portion still remains unoccupied ! There are whole 
streets in the city of Canton, where the people are as 
ignorant of the truth as in the remote hamlets in the 
mountains. There are thousands of villages never yet 
visited by missionary or native evangelist. There are 
hundreds of populous centres, where thousands of peo- 
ple gather on every fair-day, that have never seen the 
form of the herald of Christ. There are still other hun- 
dreds of towns, where the missionary has been but once 
or perhaps twice ; while millions of people are found 
everywhere who know absolutely nothing of Christ. And 
these people are not shut up in seclusion where it is 
impossible to reach them ; they are all within the reach 
of the messenger of Christ. No edict of the govern- 
ment, no barriers of caste, no local restrictions, hinder 
the approach of the preacher. The simple reason 
they have not heard is that there is no one to go to 
them. Unless reinforcements come, many years will 
pass before these millions can be supplied with even the 
most superficial knowledge of the great truths of Chris- 
tianity. They need not merely the passing message, 



Advance into the Interior, 481 

heard but once and then imperfectly understood, but 
the repeated presentation of the truth. It is next to 
impossible to give to persons who never heard it before, 
such a knowledge of the truth as will lead them to an 
intelligent acceptance of it, in one brief interview. All 
that can be hoped, in such cases, is to create an inter- 
est and lead them to the study of it. This necessitates 
the frequent visitation of the same place to follow up 
impressions made, and, as a matter of course, circum- 
scribes the sphere of one's efforts. The missionary's 
course, to be efficient, should not be a hurried march 
across the land, although it too often has the appear- 
ance of such, in which the number of towns and villages 
visited is noted down as so many conquests made. 
Such superficial work is barren of permanent results. 
Many times must the same places be visited, many times 
the same message repeated, before its meaning dawns 
on the benighted mind. 

Oh, that the condition of these people could be 
truly and vividly presented ! They are not anxiously 
waiting for the Gospel, and ready to receive it on its 
first presentation. Waiting they are, but they know 
not for what ; longings they feel, but in their blindness 
and ignorance they know not that the Jesus we preach 
is the only one who can satisfy them. They are in- 
different, or wedded to their old beliefs; thronging the 
temples, or bowing at wayside shrines, they live day 
after day with no thought above the things that perish 
in the using, with no hope of any definite happiness 
beyond. But they are accessible, the way is open by 
which the message can be carried to every one of them. 

31 



482 The Cross and the Dragon. 



Their condition is not utterly hopeless so long as the 
truth may reach them ; and as long as the way is open 
and the messenger ready, they may be saved. What a 
responsibiHty is here laid upon the Church ! The key 
of knowledge is intrusted to her, the oracles of eternal 
wisdom committed to her care, and still so many ignorant 
of the way of Life ! Can she give an account of her stew- 
ardship without fear of reproof for unfaithfulness? 

The call is here presented to every young man conse- 
crating himself to the work of Christ. The claims of 
home interests are strong, the calls from home churches 
pressing, but the call from the millions of pagan lands, in 
utter ignorance, is superior to these. Compare the life 
of the faithful pastor in this land with that of the mis- 
sionary of the Cross. At most a few hundreds come 
under his direct influence. Week after week, and year 
after year, to the same people he expounds the Word, 
and does a noble work for the Master; but in Canton 
and elsewhere there are thousands who come under the 
missionary's influence, with minds never yet touched, 
hearts never yet softened or made glad by the truth, 
upon whom he may impress himself. Look at it in 
another light. What pastor in this land, after years of 
labor, can positively say that the work he has done, 
however important, would not have been done by some 
one else ; or the place he has filled have been filled with 
another equally efficient? But the missionary is doing 
what would never have been done had he not gone to 
the work ; and to all w4io come is given this assurance, 
that they do that which, would otherwise be left undone, 
thus adding directly to the aggregate of efficient service. 



Adva7ice into the Interior. 483 

The results attained, while full of encouragement and 
calling for profoundest gratitude, furnish but little 
ground for self-congratulation to the Church : fifteen 
small churches for a city of fifteen hundred thousand 
people ; one hundred schools, chiefly primary, for the 
children and youth in a population of thirty millions; 
ninety-seven out-stations in all the vast territory of three 
great provinces ; and seven thousand Christians in their 
myriad population. Thank God for what has been 
done; but, oh, how little compared with what remains 
to be done ! These Christians form but a very narrow 
band of bright gold around the dark mass that is yet 
untouched. These schools and churches are but sparks 
of light in the great sea of black ignorance and dark 
superstition. The signs of progress are many and cheer- 
ing, the indications of greater triumphs are most signifi- 
cant; but the darkness, the ignorance, the cruelty, are 
still appalling. The Gospel has proved itself effectual 
in bringing joy and hope to thousands ; shall it not 
bring similar blessings to the millions there? Let the 
answer come in enlarged gifts, in the consecration of 
lives, and the gift of sons and daughters freely given, 
that the grand fact may be established that the people 
of Christ are not ashamed of His Gospel, but believe 
it to be the power of God unto salvation not only to the 
multitudes of Christian lands, but to the myriads of 
China as well. 



Unlvenity Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. 



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